"Dave Chappelle’s controversial comedy special is a catalyst for change as Netflix walkout leads to calls for reform" 20 Oct. 2021

Netflix employees at the streaming giant’s campuses around the world walked off the job .. in protest of Dave Chappelle’s latest special, the company’s defense of the comedian and its dismissal of concerns that the content was dangerously transphobic.

... In their list of demands to [Netflix executive Ted] Sarandos, the Netflix employee resource group Trans*, which consists of trans and nonbinary employees and their allies, wrote in a news release that they want the company to add disclaimers to transphobic content, make investments in trans creators and recruit trans people to work in Netflix leadership roles. The group did not demand that “The Closer” be removed from the platform.

... Sarandos defended the program in two memos, saying he supported Chappelle’s “artistic freedom.” Though he acknowledged in an interview with Variety on Tuesday that he “screwed up that internal communication” and “should have led with a lot more humanity,” he reiterated that the special would not be taken down and said he defined hate speech on the platform as “something that would intentionally call for physically harming other people or even remove protections. For me, intent to cause physical harm crosses the line, for sure.”

... A spokesperson for Netflix released a statement ahead of the planned rally that said the company respected employees’ decision to walk out “and recognize we have much more work to do both within Netflix and in our content.”

... Terra Field, a Netflix software engineer who is also transgender, took the company to task on Twitter for attempting to be “neutral.” “This is not an argument with two sides. It is an argument with trans people who want to be alive and people who don’t want us to be,” she wrote. She then attended a meeting meant for senior executives along with two other co-workers. All three were suspended and then reinstated days later.