Elon Musk diagnoses Netflix's big problem after platform sheds subscribers, stock tumbles: 'Woke mind virus'

Elon Musk, the world's richest man, has diagnosed the disease that he believes is causing Netflix's foreboding financial woes.

What is wrong with Netflix?

Netflix announced on Tuesday that it experienced its first net loss of subscribers in more than a decade during the first quarter of 2022. The streaming platform disclosed that 200,000 users dropped the service between January and March.

The news caused shares of Netflix stock to tumble more than 25%, CNBC reported. Netflix previously told shareholders the company would experience a net gain of 2.5 million subscribers in the first quarter of 2022.

To make matters worse, Netflix is now forecasting the loss of another 2 million subscribers in the second quarter of this year. Netflix's stock further cratered more than 30% as of Wednesday afternoon.

What did Musk say?

Musk pointed to woke ideology as the source of Netflix's subscriber and impending financial woes.

Responding to news of the significant stock tumble, Musk said, "The woke mind virus is making Netflix unwatchable."

In response to another Twitter user who said the "woke mind virus is the biggest threat to the civilization," Musk affirmed, "Yes."

Indeed, Netflix has platformed provocatively progressive content.

For example, Netflix hosts the show "Dear White People," which is described as addressing the "complexities of prejudice that take different forms — whether it’s white or light-skinned privilege, sexism, or homophobia."

Netflix is also scheduled to release a new show on Thursday called "He's Expecting." As the title suggests, the show is centered on a pregnant male character. Netflix describes the show: "When a successful ad executive who's got it all figured out becomes pregnant, he's forced to confront social inequities he'd never considered before."

Netflix is also working with Ibram X. Kendi to adapt his anti-racist work into film projects, and the platform released a show about Colin Kaepernick last year.

What does Netflix blame?

The platform attributed its subscriber decline and bleak forecast to market factors outside the company's control, account sharing, competition (from Amazon, Disney, YouTube, Hulu, and others), and other "macro factors" including "sluggish economic growth, increasing inflation, geopolitical events such as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and some continued disruption from COVID."