Netflix asks federal judge to block child porn charges over ‘cuties’ film

Netflix has asked a federal judge to stop a Texas district attorney from bringing child pornography charges against them for relating to their release of the French film “Cuties.”

Tyler County DA Lucas Babin indicted Netflix in September 2020 for distributing “Cuties,” accusing the film of depicting the “lewd exhibition of minors.” Netflix now says “Enough is enough” in its most recent legal filing on Thursday and says Babin is trying to stifle Netflix’s First Amendment rights. Netflix have requested that the case be thrown out.

“As Babin is well-aware, ‘Cuties’ violates no laws: it contains nothing obscene, it contains no scenes of children engaged in ‘sexual conduct,’ it contains no ‘lewd depictions of minors.’ Indeed, other prosecutors in Texas have not only refused to take up for his ill-advised indictment(s), they have also conceded that ‘Cuties’ is not criminal but has ‘serious political, literary, and artistic value.’ But this one prosecutor—out of all the prosecutors in America— has indicted Netflix not just once but five times,” Netflix wrote.

Lawyers from both sides eventually agreed to put the case on hold until June of 2022, according to court records. Arguments from Netflix and the attorney’s officer were heard on Friday. The hearing lasted for three hours.

‘Cuties’ sparked the hashtag #CancelNetflix, and ultimately led to the Tyler County grand jury indictment for “promotion of lewd material depicting a child.” The indictment named Netflix as the sole defendant.

Netflix is accused in the indictment of promoting visual material depicting the lewd exhibition of partially clothed children under the age of 18. The indictment also says the “film has no serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.” ‘Cuties’ follows an 11-year-old girl who lives in Paris and rebels against her family to join a group of dancers.