Netflix is doubling down on its anti-censorship stance and is openly warning its employees that if they don’t support the content, they should find a new place to work. Netflix recently updated its corporate culture memo and added some new guidelines for the employees. Titled Netflix Culture – Seeking Excellence, the memo has kept the streamer’s core principles intact but urges the workers to make wise, long-term decisions and be more judicious in their expenditures, among other directives.
But the most interesting change comes in the form of the newly added Artistic Expression section. Per Variety, this update seems to be in response to the Dave Chappelle’s The Closer controversy, in which Netflix stood by the controversial comedian and refused to boot him off the platform.
While Netflix is known for making progressive films and movies emphasizing diversity and inclusivity, they also host several comedians known for their politically incorrect and often crude humor. Bill Burr, Ricky Gervais, Dave Chappelle, and Jimmy Carr have all received flak for every single one of their comedy specials.
Chappelle’s most recent special, The Closer, which debuted last October, turned out to be probably the most controversial of the veteran comedian’s career. Chappelle was slammed by the transgender community for repeatedly targeting the marginalized group in his jokes. Chappelle faced similar reactions for his 2019 special Sticks and Stones as well, but this time they were much more vocal.
LGBTQ+ members of Netflix organized protests and threatened strikes, demanding Chappelle’s special be taken down. However, Netflix wasn’t deterred as The Closer turned out to be quite profitable for the streamer, and the company has a long-standing relationship with Chappelle. In fact, Netflix fired some employees for their disruptive behavior, an act it has warned will happen again if the workers step out of line. You can read the full statement below, in which Netflix makes it clear that they won’t censor the artists and that if the employees have a problem, they are free to leave the company.
"Entertaining the world is an amazing opportunity and also a challenge because viewers have very different tastes and points of view. So we offer a wide variety of TV shows and movies, some of which can be provocative. To help members make informed choices about what to watch, we offer ratings, content warnings and easy to use parental controls.
Not everyone will like — or agree with — everything on our service. While every title is different, we approach them based on the same set of principles: we support the artistic expression of the creators we choose to work with; we program for a diversity of audiences and tastes; and we let viewers decide what’s appropriate for them, versus having Netflix censor specific artists or voices.
As employees we support the principle that Netflix offers a diversity of stories, even if we find some titles counter to our own personal values. Depending on your role, you may need to work on titles you perceive to be harmful. If you’d find it hard to support our content breadth, Netflix may not be the best place for you."
Netflix Is Facing Financial And Legal Troubles For Overspending On Content
Overspending seems to be the key reason for Netflix’s current problems. Netflix is the largest streaming service in the world, and for good reason too. It hosts a massive number of titles, catering to every person’s preferences, but its content budget is rising every year while the profits are declining. Some recent examples would be the insane $30 million per episode budget of Stranger Things season 4 and Netflix’s Knives Out deal. They've also canceled several mega-budget series like Cowboy Bebop and Jupiter’s Legacy after the first season itself.
As content spending increases, Netflix is hiking subscription costs, which in turn is leading to password sharing and overall subscriber loss. Due to this, Netflix is asking the staff to "spend our members’ money wisely" in the future. The streamer is also planning radical changes, like introducing ads, to solve the problems.
One can only imagine what Netflix’s current state would be if it weren’t for Squid Game's incredible success. Hopefully, the company will make better decisions in the future.