Democrats expressed their anger at Hulu after the streaming service declined to run political advertisements related to gun control or abortion in support of their candidates in the upcoming midterm elections.

On Monday, the Washington Post reported that the heads of the three primary campaigning arms of the Democratic Party - the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and Democratic Governors Association - tried to purchase joint ads on guns and abortion from Hulu on July 15 as well as a local Disney-affiliated ABC channel and ESPN. Each of the ads were run with the exception of the ones for Hulu.

The heads of the three committees issued a statement accusing Hulu of "censorship of the truth" that is "outrageous, offensive" and "another step down a dangerous path for our country" after it refused to run their ads. They allege that by doing so, voters are being denied information about their Republican opponents.

“Voters have the right to know the facts about MAGA Republicans’ agenda on issues like abortion — and Hulu is doing a huge disservice to the American people by blocking voters from learning the truth about the GOP record or denying these issues from even being discussed," said a statement by executive directors of the three committees, Christie Roberts, Tim Persico and Noam Lee to the Washington Post.

A Twitter account belonging to the DSCC went ahead and posted the ads it requested be run on Hulu. In one ad, viewers are walked through the raft of bills passed in Republican-led state legislatures that outlaw or heavily restrict abortion. In another, the DSCC accuses the Republicans of being more devoted to the gun lobby than to resolving gun violence.

Unlike television counterparts, digital providers like Hulu are not obligated under federal law to provide politicians equal access to the airwaves.

Under Hulu's advertising policy, the company requires 72 hours to review a submitted ad as well as a separate policy for its ad manager tool. For the latter, Hulu expressly rejects any ads on issue, electoral or political themes and reserves the right to reject ads that it deems inconsistent with its business practices and brand.

However, Democratic candidates have complained about a lack of transparency around Hulu’s advertising practices.

One candidate in New York complained to Disney CEO Bob Chapek and Hulu President Joe Earley about being unable to run political ads due to an "unwritten Hulu policy" that found their ads to be too "sensitive" for the service. The ad in question reportedly related to GOP stances on guns, abortion and climate change as well as showing footage from the Jan. 6 Capitol Riot. The ad was later run after the words "climate change" was removed and the Capitol Riot footage was replaced.

“To not discuss these topics in my campaign ad is to not address the most important issues facing the United States,” wrote the candidate, Suraj Patel, who is running for a congressional seat in Manhattan.

Disney owns a stake in Hulu after purchasing it for $71 million from Fox in 2019. Unlike Hulu, Disney’s Disney+ streaming service has an explicit ban on political ads to maintain a family-friendly image.

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