French coming-of-age film Cuties has become a source of controversy and heated reactions, as the provocative film's Netflix debut follows a weeks-long hate campaign.

Social media has been set ablaze with a #CancelNetflix brigade, and new data reveals a high rate of subscription cancellations for the streaming company. The asymmetric conversation sparked by the film’s alleged content is the latest in a long line of cultural hedge issues that have fueled conversations about cancel culture and the power of social media to manipulate companies.

“I wanted to make a film in the hopes of starting a conversation about the sexualization of children,” author and Cuties director Maïmouna Doucouré wrote in an op-ed in The Washington Post. “The film certainly started a debate, but not the one I intended.”

The debate has grown beyond a simple social media conversation and has spilled over into the world of mainstream politics. On September 18, 33 Republican members of Congress signed a letter calling on the Justice Department to prosecute Netflix executives on child pornography charges before the film’s release. Former Democratic presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard wrote a Twitter tirade suggesting the film played a role in the proliferation of the child sex trafficking industry.