Netflix Is Being Sued By Users In Russia
Netflix halted all its services in Russia due to the country's ongoing attempt to take over Ukraine, and now users in Russia are suing the streaming service.
It is no secret that Russia is in a lot of trouble, as their leader has seen fit to attempt to take over Ukraine. The conflict and subsequent invasion attempt began at the end of February, and there doesn’t seem like an end is anywhere in sight. Due to the world opposing Russia’s attempt to take over a sovereign nation, severe sanctions have been placed on the country. These strict sanctions are to cut off supplies and ways to limit communication attempts to help benefit Russia from achieving its goal. Companies have also joined in by stopping all their business with the nation, including Netflix. Netflix halted all services in Russia as a result of his invasion, and now users in the country are suing the streaming platform.
Users that have a Netflix account in Russia are suing the streaming platform for lack of service. In Russia, 20 people are needed to begin a class-action lawsuit, and that has already happened. The reports are that another 100 are set to join in on this lawsuit due to Netflix stopping all services of their platform. The streaming company also stopped all acquisitions and projects in the country. This includes dropping the 20 free-to-air propaganda channels that the company is required to carry under Russian law. The streaming platform is clearly pulling out all the stops to heavily protest the invasion of Ukraine.
Netflix launched in Russia back in 2016, and since then, it has acquired around one million subscribers. The price for a subscription is 799 rubles per month, which equates to $9.67 per month. This class action lawsuit is being put together by a law firm in Russia that is called Chernyshov, Lukoyanov and Partners. The Russian state media outlet also known as the RIA has reported that this lawsuit states that Netflix, “entered into a public contract with subscribers that does not provide for the possibility of unilateral refusal to fulfill obligations.” The law firm has also stated that Netflix’s suspension of services in the country violates users’ rights as per the contract for the streaming platform when someone signs up for the subscription. Russian Federation code and consumers rights laws are also said to be in violation by Netflix.
The plaintiffs in the case are asking for a settlement of 60 million rubles, which equates to $730,000. This amount is for non-pecuniary damages, and the plaintiffs are seeking an additional fine against Netflix equal to 50% of whatever the court awards to the plaintiffs, should they win. The streaming service could also be hit with even more penalties if they lose the case and do not comply with the demands made by the court.
Netflix is a massive company, and its footprint in Russia is not as strong as it is in the rest of the world. The streaming platform might just take the hit from losing this case, while the company stands its ground in opposing the invasion of Ukraine. According to Earthweb, Netflix currently has over 214 million subscribers, so losing out on the near million that Russia provides is a drop in the bucket of the company’s overall wealth. Even losing a case that sees them pay some $730,000 might not matter much either.
