WASHINGTON — Is the United States in a new "Satanic Panic?"
That's not something we can Verify, but after rapper Lil Nas X stirred up controversy with a risqué music video and a "Satan shoe" sneaker collaboration with art-house MSCHF, it seems like some religious Americans fear a downfall of Christian values. Pew research numbers show the U.S. is still majority Christian.
The Satanic Panic of the 1980s brought with it conspiracy theories. These days, those can manifest as misinformation on social media. One of the less harmful false claims surrounds Christian content on a streaming platform you've probably heard of.
QUESTION:
Is Netflix removing all Christian content from its platform on April 4th?
ANSWER:
No.
SOURCE:
Netflix
PROCESS:
The Verify team caught wind of a Facebook post circulating which claims, with a typo, that "Netflix is removing Christian movies from their program. All should be gone by April 4th."
We reached out to Netflix about this, and a spokesperson told us this is false. So false, in fact, that the platform is actually adding more Christian content. A Week Away, a musical about a Christian summer camp was released on March 26.
This claim appears to have been circulating online in different posts and forms with different deadlines for years. It might have originated in 2016 from a satirical article from NewsThump, which had the headline "Netflix to remove all Christian content after complaints from Muslims."
NewsThump's about page describes itself as "a satirical and spoof news website, taking a daily swipe at current affairs from the UK and around the world...We aim to be equal opportunity piss-takers and have no particular affiliation or political preference. It is our stated aim to mock absolutely everyone, eventually."
So we can Verify, any claims you see about Christian or religious content leaving Netflix are false. You can still log on and watch the "22 Best Christian Movies on Netflix That Will Leave You Feeling Inspired," as laid out by Country Living.