Netflix turns out to be manipulating movie search results when it burns in a 'promotional poster that sexually depicts minors'



The French movie 'Cuties! ', Which has been distributed on Netflix since September 2020, was produced because the advertising poster released by Netflix before distribution burned up as 'excessively sexually depicting underage children'. It has developed into a situation where directors and performers who are not involved in the movie are slandered. Netflix has taken measures to make it difficult for 'Cuties!' To be displayed in search results in Netflix, according to the overseas media The Verge.

Netflix scrambled internally to suppress a controversial movie from search results --The Verge
https://www.theverge.com/2021/10/26/22747488/netflix-suppress-cuties-algorithm-search-results-dave-chappelle

'Cuties!' Is the first feature film directed by Senegalese French director Maïmouna Doucre, and the 11-year-old hero who grew up in a conservative family was drawn to a dance group formed by school girls and family members. The content is to go against tradition. The main characters dance in a dance called twerking, in which they lower their hips and move their hips to the music, and because they also stepped into the problem of 'sexualization' that depicts girls sexually, this work is It received high praise at the Sundance Film Festival held in the United States.

You can watch the trailer for 'Cuties!' On YouTube.

Cuties | Official Trailer | Netflix --YouTube


'Cuties!', Which was released at a French movie theater on August 19, 2020, was scheduled to be distributed on Netflix from September 9. However, the poster released on August 18 prior to its distribution on Netflix received a great deal of criticism for 'drawing a girl sexually.'

The left side of the image below is the original poster used for the theatrical release in France, and the right side is the Netflix poster. Whereas the original poster depicts children with colorful shopping bags frolicking, the Netflix poster depicts them wearing provocative poses in tight-fitting outfits. ..


by Deadline

Along with the release of the Netflix poster, conservative commentators criticized the child for sexual exploitation, causing a great backlash centered on SNS. On Twitter, protests were carried out using the hashtag '#CancelNetflix', and QAnon conspiracy theorists claimed that 'Netflix distributes child pornography' and fueled the fire.

In addition, Texas House of Representatives Matt Schaefer told Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton that more than 40,000 signatures were collected on a petition to remove the movie on the online signing site Change.org. Requested that '!' Investigate the possibility of violating the Child Exploitation and Child Pornography Act.



According to an internal document obtained by The Verge, after 'Cuties!' Burned up and replaced advertising posters and synopses, related managers and directors discussed measures. As a result, the response team allegedly focused on Netflix's algorithm and adopted a method of 'preventing Cuties!' From appearing on the movie search results screen as much as possible.

Specifically, 'Cuties!' Has been removed from the main categories on Netflix, such as 'coming soon' and 'popular searches,' and is displayed with related words such as 'cute.' It seems that it has disappeared. Also, when searching for words such as 'cuties' and 'mignonnes (French title of' Cuties! ')', Sexual works and movies for children are not displayed, and 'pedo (' pedo () 'Cuties!' Was also excluded from the search results for words with problems such as 'pedo)'.

Originally, searching for 'pedo' didn't show 'cuties!', But Netflix's algorithms track and analyze search words and content viewed by users. In other words, if the number of cases where users who searched for 'pedo' finally watched 'cuties!' Increased, there was a risk that 'cuties!' Would be displayed when they finally searched for 'pedo'. ..

According to Netflix internal documentation, this response minimizes poster coverage while avoiding the appearance of removing the 'Cuties!' Page, shifting delivery dates, or canceling delivery. Was the goal. Therefore, he said that he did his best to keep the 'Cuties!' Page on the platform and make it as inconspicuous as possible.



As of January 16, 2020, the team in charge of checking the movies to be delivered on Netflix in advance said, 'The dance scene is a slow motion shot of an 11-year-old girl sucking her finger, and a close-up of her crotch and back. The content is provocative and sexual, and sometimes it makes viewing uncomfortable. ' However, Netflix translated Twerking as 'sensual dance' in the synopsis and created its own promotional poster that was more provocative than the original poster.

It seems that some employees were uncomfortable with the synopsis and the combination of posters, but in addition to the fact that it was not Netflix that made the movie in the first place, it also has a track record of receiving high praise at the Sundance Film Festival. Therefore, it seems that few people tried to raise their voice. While there were guidelines within Netflix for reporting content that was problematic in certain countries, there were no standardized guidelines for 'subtle depictions of minors.' Also, at that time, it was difficult for employees to collaborate with each other because a series of work was done by remote work accompanying the pandemic of the new coronavirus.

Netflix often doesn't share with the director how to promote the movie in advance, and Cuties!'S director Ducre is provocative, which doesn't fit the purpose of the movie until he receives an aggressive direct message on SNS after the poster is released. He didn't know that a special promotional poster was made. As a result, harassment and intimidation arrived under Director Doucre, who is not involved in the promotional poster, and the cast who appeared in the movie suffered various damages. After the fire, Netflix

apologized for the promotional poster, and co-CEO Ted Sarandos called Doucre directly to apologize .

A 'post-mortem analysis' in Netflix's internal documentation described a series of flaming uproars: 'This incident revealed that we consider Netflix to be just a conduit for content. In contrast, Netflix's Subscribers see us as sources, authors, and presenters. ' Netflix was in a position to buy the distribution rights for 'Cuties!' After the Sundance Film Festival, and was not involved in the film production or content. However, from the perspective of users and outsiders, Netflix understood through the flames of 'Cuties!' That there is no distinction between content created by Netflix and content for which distribution rights have been purchased.



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