'Black Mirror' Sparks Alarm Over Netflix's Terms and Conditions

An episode from the new season of “Black Mirror ” hit so close to home for many Netflix users that it sent them anxiously scrambling to check the streamer’s terms and conditions. 

The first episode of the sixth season, which aired earlier this month, called “Joan Is Awful,” follows a businesswoman named Joan (played by Annie Murphy) who becomes the real-life subject of an artificial intelligence and computer-generated drama about her life on a fictional Netflix-esque streaming service called Streamberry.

The alarming moment happens without her consent after she unwittingly glosses over the terms and conditions of the online service without really reading them.  

After the eerie episode aired, slews of curious Netflix users couldn’t help but hit the internet to search for the streamer’s terms and conditions in an attempt to pinpoint any similarities lurking in the fine print.

The online search also skyrocketed as 596% more people searched for “Netflix terms and conditions” on Google just three days after the season dropped on the streaming platform, according to Google Trends per Casino Alpha.

But feel free to exhale (for now) as Netflix’s real-life terms of use don’t presently include any mention of ripping off anyone’s life and turning it into a hit series. 

“Black Mirror,” a techno-paranoia anthology series that features themes about humanity’s connection with technology, initially came out in 2011 and has since become one of the streamer’s most popular shows. 

Season 6 of “Black Mirror” is now streaming on Netflix.