Over 50 MPs want Netflix to ditch a cartoon bear they say pushes Russian propaganda
British MPs demand Netflix ban a Russian children's cartoon they claim pushes military propaganda. But indoctrination through kids' media is way older than this.
A children's animated series has landed in the crosshairs of British lawmakers, who reckon it's quietly selling kids on Russian military culture. Masha and the Bear—the wildly popular show about a pink-hooded girl and her woodland companion—is the target of a cross-party letter signed by more than 50 MPs, including Liberal Democrat Tom Gordon.
The complaint? That the cartoon glamorizes Soviet-era military imagery. Gordon raised the issue in Parliament specifically around what he called the "militarisation of children," framing the show as a soft-power play by Russia. Ukraine's Center for Countering Disinformation agrees, as does Estonia's foreign affairs minister. They're not making a casual complaint—this is diplomatic-level concern over a kids' show.
Masha and the Bear has been around since 2009 and racks up millions of views. It streams on Netflix and ITVX in the UK, meaning it's accessible to young viewers everywhere. The premise is simple enough: a girl in a red hood gets into various scrapes with her brown bear friend in a forest setting. Harmless on the surface. But the MPs argue that those Soviet military costumes woven into episodes send a message that goes beyond entertainment.
The whole thing raises a thornier question though: how deep does propaganda in children's media actually run? And how recent is the problem? Turns out, this isn't new territory. The CIA has bankrolled kids' content in the past. Even classic cartoons—stuff like old Bugs Bunny shorts—carried racial stereotypes and wartime messaging that shaped how generations of children saw the world. That was over a century of influence, mostly unchecked and often invisible.
So the Masha row isn't really about one cartoon bear. It's about recognizing that children's entertainment has always been a tool for pushing values, narratives, and sometimes ideology. Sometimes it's obvious. Sometimes it's buried in costumes and storylines. The MPs are flagging what they see as a modern version of something media has done forever—use kids' shows to normalize certain worldviews.
Whether Netflix will actually pull the series remains unclear. But the pressure's on, and the conversation around what kids are actually absorbing while they watch their screens just got louder.
