- Netflix has reportedly commissioned a new reality series titled The New Stanford Prison Experiment , set to premiere on 21 October with six 45-minute episodes involving 30 participants assigned as guards or prisoners.
- The upcoming show has drawn significant online backlash and disbelief, with social media users expressing concern over recreating a project historically renowned for severe ethical failures.
- The original 1971 experiment led by Dr Philip Zimbardo was abandoned after just six days when participants acting as guards became psychologically abusive and subjected mock inmates to severe degradation and sleep deprivation.
- Zimbardo faced substantial criticism for participating as the prison superintendent rather than maintaining an objective stance, prompting modern ethics committees to ban research causing undue distress.
- The new series aims to re-examine themes of power, hierarchy, and human empathy, testing whether ordinary people inevitably succumb to systemic corruption when thrust into positions of control.
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