Earlier this week, Netflix announced that former Obama ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice, will be joining their board of directors. The move has prompted a strong backlash on social media; #BoycottNetflix is now trending as a result.
Appointed in 2009, Rice became a household political name following an attack on the American embassy in Benghazi, Libya, that left four Americans dead, including Ambassador Christopher Stevens. Immediately after the attack on September 11, 2012, Rice went on several Sunday talk shows to push the Obama administration’s false talking point that a YouTube video mocking Muhammad was responsible for the attack, not Al-Qaeda militants.
Recently, a bombshell report in Bloomberg revealed that while serving as President Obama’s national security adviser, Susan Rice “unmasked” members of the Trump transition team who were incidentally wiretapped while speaking with foreign nationals.
Despite all that swirling controversy, Netflix decided to name Susan Rice to their board of directors.
“We are delighted to welcome Ambassador Rice to the Netflix board,” said Netflix co-founder and CEO Reed Hastings. “For decades, she has tackled difficult, complex global issues with intelligence, integrity and insight and we look forward to benefiting from her experience and wisdom.”
Twitter users have responded to the news with force, referring to Susan Rice as a “criminal” and suggesting that Netflix should care about her conduct while working under Obama.
“Netflix Hires Susan Rice on board of directors while Barack Obama is still in negotiating to produce the content for @netflix,” wrote one user. “Netflix obviously doesn’t care about the fact that Susan Rice repeatedly lied about Benghazi and the unmasking of American citizens.”
“Susan Rice is a criminal who persecuted and spied on innocent Americans,” wrote another. “I’ll be deleting my account and encouraging everyone I know to do the same. I’ve been a customer since 2006. #BoycottNetflix”