Russian culture minister Vladimir Medinsky believes the U.S. has financed its own global mind controlling device: Netflix.
Medinsky was quoted by the Russian news agency Rambler News Service as claiming that the U.S. government is trying “to enter every home, to creep into every television, and through that very television, into the heads of every person on Earth” with the help of the video streaming service.
The minister continued by pointing to Netflix’s success as evidence of covert funding by the U.S. government.
“And, what, you thought these gigantic startups emerge by themselves?” Medinsky said. “One schoolboy sat down, thought for a bit, and then billions of dollars rained down from above?”
Netflix was founded by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in 1988. It began its worldwide expansion this year and became available in Russia in January, but has faced setbacks as local authorities require the company to obtain broadcasting and mass-media licenses in order to legally operate in the country.
Overseas subscribers to the service increased by 4.51 million to 34.53 million during the last fiscal quarter, again beating Netflix’s own guidance for 34.37 million. Looking ahead to its second-quarter results, Netflix predicted it would add 2.5 million new streaming customers globally, less than half the levels of the previous period.