Netflix Subscribers May Have Less than 10 Weeks to Share Their Accounts for Free

PARIS, FRANCE - SEPTEMBER 19: In this photo illustration the Netflix logo is reflected in
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Alana Mastrangelo

Netflix subscribers may only have less than ten weeks left to allow their family members or friends use their account login from another home.

The streaming giant told shareholders in a Thursday letter that it plans to “roll out paid sharing more broadly” later in the first quarter, according to a report by Business Insider.

This means that by the end of March, those who have a Netflix subscription may not be able to let people living in another house use their password to log into their account for free.

Netflix claims that users sharing their account information with others “undermines our long term ability to invest in and improve Netflix.”

“As we roll out paid sharing, members in many countries will also have the option to pay extra if they want to share Netflix with people they don’t live with,” the shareholder letter said.

The move comes after Netflix ran a paid trial in Latin America, in which the streaming platform charged an extra $2 to $3 per month, in countries like Costa Rica, Chile, and Peru, for members to add another household.

The streaming giant first hinted it would do something like this last summer, after the company’s first quarter report in 2022 saw a staggering 200,000 lost subscribers. This was followed by hedge funds dumping the Netflix’s stock and mass layoffs.

Thursday’s shareholder letter also noted that some Latin American users canceled their subscriptions as a result of the sharing charge.

Netflix said that while it expected engagement to fall soon after the change, it also expects those who were using accounts for free to eventually cave and begin subscribing themselves, which will ultimately bring revenue up.

In December, Netflix closed out its worst year in more than a decade, with its stock plunging more than 50 percent and wiping out a staggering $136 billion in market value.

You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Facebook and Twitter at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.

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