Getty/ImgurWe’ve heard some crazy conspiracy theories in our time but Russia have well and truly upped the stakes with this gem, accusing Netflix of conspiring with the U.S. government in a plot to brainwash citizens.
Moscow culture minister Vladimir Medinsky has alleged that the streaming service is on the White House payroll and the U.S. government uses Netflix to “enter every home, creep into every television, and through that television, into the head of every person on Earth”.
That’s right, Netflix is all just one big government mind control project. Obviously.
Medinsky, a close aide of Russian President Vladimir Putin, made the bizarre comments in an interview with the Russian news agency Rambler.
The Washington Times quotes Medinsky as saying:
And, what, you thought these gigantic startups emerge by themselves? One schoolboy sat down, thought for a bit, and then billions of dollars rained down from above?
It turns out that that our ideological friends [the U.S. government] understand perfectly well that this is the art form that is the most important.They understand how to enter everyone’s homes by getting into every television with the help of Netflix. And through this television, [they get into] the heads of everyone on Earth. But [Russians] don’t grasp this.
GettyNetflix expanded into Russia this year but it seems Medinsky isn’t exactly thrilled with their presence, claiming that Moscow’s homegrown cinema industry is suffering from the global advance of Internet streaming sites like Netflix.
He also suggested that Netflix should be banned from operating in Russia unless it pays its taxes or produces 30 per cent of its content in his home country, according to the Daily Star.
Medinsky is pretty well known for voicing his opinions against Western media and what he sees as Western propoganda and, honestly, his latest conspiracy theory seems more like cover for the fact that he doesn’t like a U.S. business doing so well in his country.
Maybe he just needs a bit of Netflix and chill so he can relax?
