NETFLIX TO ITS TECHIES: SHUT UP

Tech workers at Netflix thought the company would always value their feedback. How naïve.

- ZOE SCHIFFER

This article is a collaboration between New York Magazine and The Verge

THE SIGN THAT NETFLIX's culture had irreversibly started to change came in the form of a Google doc. The company had long prided itself on welcoming brutally honest feedback-a value embodied by the Open Q&A doc, where employees could ask executives tough questions and expect a good-faith response. Co-CEO Reed Hastings had a reputation for answering queries from any department, no matter how critical or tricky, usually within a few days: How does Netflix feel about giving money to conservative politicians? Does the company regret putting the controversial film Cuties on the platform? Should 365 Days, a film glorifying gender-based violence, be taken down?

On October 8, 2021, dozens of employees eagerly awaited a response: Where does Netflix draw the line between commentary and hate speech?

Page after page filled with angry blocks of text. "Is there a clear distinction made between offensiveness and harmfulness to populations when evaluating what content to buy and air?" asked one. "If we can measure an appetite from members for transphobic and bigoted content, will we start partnering with dangerous celebrities, actors, and comedians who are intentionally divisive (Owen Benjamin, Alex Jones, Ann Coulter) in an effort to 'entertain the world'?" asked another.