Netflix to Its Techies: Shut Up

https://www.vulture.com/2022/07/netflix-to-its-techies-shut-up.html

24 22 4 years ago

Good combo-breaker for Netflix, maybe they can save their company now that they stop letting pc-zealots direct their course.

202206241203• 4 years ago

I struggle to believe that people shipping code and people trying to ban free speech are the same people at Netflix.

slowmovintarget3• 4 years ago

You be surprised at how few young people, including coders, see a contradiction in stopping speech they don't like and being "for free speech." That whole First Amendment thing is "problematic" because their professors taught them so. They're for free speech... that they agree with.

kjeetgill• 4 years ago

Hm. I know there's been lots of news stories of people complaining, but have any actual decisions been made with respect to them? I haven't followed that closely.

I guess what I'm really thinking is if this moves the needle at all in terms of saving the company: my impression was that there are just too many services now and with better content.

falcolas2• 4 years ago

How dare those shareholders have opinions on how the company they own shares in conducts its business?!

slowmovintarget3• 4 years ago

It's for the sake of the shareholders that they're not giving in to PC nonsense. From what I read, the objections to content were not coming from shareholders but from ERGs (special interest groups of employees organized around identity politics... which is a bad idea in the first place).

jokethrowaway• 4 years ago

What a ridiculous take.

Employees are welcome to provide feedback. The company is not required to comply to every demand, especially when its employees are actively trying to censor content.

Hate speech is a ridiculous term, especially when applied to comedy.

bilekas• 4 years ago

Yeah this is a grey area that everyone can never be happy.. Personally the Dave Chapell fiasco was just a series of jokes.. He's literally a comedian making jokes, good or bad are about taste.

I think there is a limit to PC, but there definitely is a line. Netflix as a provider can't make everyone happy. But as a company working environment they seem to be. I know many people who identify in different ways and have always only said positives about the culture.

Is it really fair to blame Netflix when you in particular don't like some content they host ? I'm not sure. But it's a minefield.

neuracnu• 4 years ago

I'm really tired of the implied narrative around the Netflix-Chapelle-Trans debate being that transgender people are insisting that 'The Closer' be removed from the Netflix platform. That was never a request of their ERG. In fact, you can read the specifics of what they asked for here: https://www.theverge.com/2021/10/18/22733098/netflix-trans-e...

The overall theme of what they were asking for was around harm reduction and seeking equal time (and money) for trans-affirming content. Demanding that any art that offends you be eliminated isn't something that a wise person would broadly argue for, and that argument wasn't being made here.

The person talking loudest about cancelling Dave Chapelle... is Dave Chapelle.

yarg2• 4 years ago

A group that represents ~1% of people is demanding representation commensurate with the rest of the human population.

In a for profit environment.

Perhaps they need to readjust their expectations?

Yaina5• 4 years ago

They're not asking that for every film that includes trans-people, there should be one that does.

They're asking that if Netflix has to show content that actively makes fun of or discriminates against trans-people, that Netflix will at least balance it out with positive representation.

WheelsAtLarge• 4 years ago

It's easy to listen to everyone in good times. That has been the case with Netflix since they were the only streaming service available. Now that the competition has increased, it is best to focus on what the service is all about and that's entertainment for many different views. The world is not all about ERG. There are many views in the world. And it's important that it presents them as part of the service. There are limits but they can't all be based on the ERG mentality.

Yaina5• 4 years ago

I don't see what's wrong with drawing a moral line.

And it's not that all content needs to be inclusive, it's just about not showing content that is actively harmful to marginalized groups. Seems like a low bar to clear.

Netflix to Its Techies: Shut Up

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