While gun control activists rage against companies to drop their affiliations with the National Rifle Association following the school shooting in Florida, some companies are refusing to bow to the pressure.
Streaming company Roku, as well as Apple, Google, and Amazon, were targeted by the #DumpNRATV campaign to force tech companies to drop NRA TV from their services, but Roku refused to cave, stating that they do not “censor based on viewpoint,” according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The company said it shared a “deep sadness” for the Valentine’s Day mass shooting at the Stoneman Douglas high school that left 17 people dead, but their services would not be affected by the tragedy.
“While the vast majority of all streaming on our platform is mainstream entertainment, voices on all sides of an issue or cause are free to operate a channel,” the streaming company said in a statement. “We do not curate or censor based on viewpoint.”
Citing policies that “prohibit the publication of content that is unlawful, incites illegal activities or violates third-party rights, among other things,” Roku said they had found no evidence that NRA TV had violated any of the guidelines.
“If we determine a channel violates these policies, it will be removed. To our knowledge, NRA TV is not currently in violation of these content policies,” the company stated.
Companies such as Enterprise Holdings Inc., Delta, and United decided to cut ties with the NRA and cease offering discounts to members amid pressure from pro-gun control advocates. Roku, which offers NRA TV as a free channel in its programming lineup, is the first and only company to respond to the calls to drop the ad-free channel, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
“We are not promoting or being paid to distribute NRA TV. We do not and have not ever had a commercial relationship with the NRA. Their channel is free to consumers with no ads,” the company said in its statemnt, adding that they “welcome Moms Demand Action and other important groups to use our platform to share their messages too.”
Social media users applauded the company’s backbone.
Im buying a Roku tomorrow
— Candace? (@Candace0054) February 28, 2018
good! Makes me want to get ROKU!
— Vinny’s Emporium (@kidcannabis024) February 28, 2018
Good for you @RokuPlayer We have Roku and will be keeping it ?
— Carrie NH ?? (@pete03217) February 28, 2018
Me thinks I should buy a @RokuPlayer #FreedomOfSpeech
— XVAKERO (@xvakero) February 28, 2018
Good for them. About time someone had some balls.
— Michael A. Spies (@Not_a_Spi) February 28, 2018
Just added NRA TV to my Roku…
— LuckyInTheOrder (@luckyintheorder) February 28, 2018
Love my Roku and love their business sense
— Mike King (@MikeKin79038073) February 28, 2018
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Originally from New York, Powers graduated from New York University and eventually made her way to sunny South Florida where she has been writing for the BizPacReview team since 2015.
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