Netflix’s new password-sharing rules apparently rolled out in Canada this week, after the streaming service walked back the proposed changes for the U.S.—for now.
And Canadian TikTokers filmed themselves canceling their subscriptions.
This new change—subscribers must log into Netflix via a “primary location”—is a great way for Netflix to continue losing subscribers, and now we can see that happening in real-time.
TikToker @beautiful.stormxo posted a video of her Netflix screen with the warning, “A Netflix account is for people who live in the same location.”
“It’s finally happening,” she says in the video. “This is my mom’s Netflix account, and she lives in a different province than me.” Another TikToker showed an email they got from Netflix, stating that someone on your account can transfer their profile “to a new membership that they pay for.” You can also potentially “share Netflix with someone who lives in another location for $7.99/month,” according to the email.
“So in other words Netflix is becoming the very thing they tried to lure you away from: cable companies,” said one commenter.
@beautiful.stormxo Welp, good thing i already invested in crave #netflix #netflixcanada ♬ original sound – Spooky.babiixo
“To be fair to Netflix, canceling was super easy,” says @dan_of_innsmouth. Before that, he says he contacted Netflix’s help chat to see exactly what was going on, and it was confirmed that his daughter, who’s away at college, would not be allowed to use it anymore. TikTok user Peter stitched Dan’s video reiterating the point that Netflix is slowly turning into a cable company and placed the blame on “inept billionaires.”
@dan_of_innsmouth Farewell @netflix . I think your definition of #passwordsharing is going to cost you a lot of long term customers but you know your business. #netflix ♬ The End – The Doors
Another TikToker filmed themselves canceling in real-time, and under the section that asks why the subscriber is canceling, they put “Y’all trippin” under “Other.”
This change apparently came as a surprise to some Canadian subscribers who’d thought Netflix walked the password rule back. In a statement last week, a spokesperson said the new password info was posted in error and was “only applicable to Chile, Costa Rica, and Peru.”
Netflix has been testing out the change in those countries since 2022, and it reportedly isn’t going well, mainly because Netflix’s messaging around the change hasn’t been clear. In addition to Canada, it’s also now testing it out in New Zealand, Spain, and Portugal.
We reached out to Netflix for comment.
