- For a tweet, Netflix suspended one of its trans employees
- This tweet questioned the content of the recent Dave Chappelle special, where, they say, he attacks the trans community
- This has placed the issue of freedom of expression and the culture of cancellation at the center of the debate.
Netflix suspends a trans worker after writing a tweet about Dave Chappelle’s comedy special, where he says he attacks the trans community.
The issue of cancellation in social networks is one of the most controversial in the world, since, practically, we are all subject to being canceled by the users themselves.
It is enough to create a post or a tweet that is not liked by a specific sector to be canceled or, failing that, ask to be canceled.
Here’s what’s going on with Netflix and one of its workers, who posted a tweet stating that Dave Chappelle’s comedy special, The Closer, which was released on October 5, targets the trans community:
I work at @Netflix. Yesterday we launched another Chappelle special where he attacks the trans community, and the very validity of transness – all while trying to pit us against other marginalized groups. You’re going to hear a lot of talk about “offense”.
We are not offended?
– Terra Field (@RainofTerra) October 7, 2021
The facts
This tweet immediately went viral and led to a new online discussion about freedom of expression and the culture of cancellation.
Given this, Netflix decided to suspend Terra Field, creator of said thread on Twitter, along with two other employees for, supposedly, trying to attend a manager’s party to which they had not been invited.
This action by Netflix has been the cause for the employee Terra Field to argue that, after publishing his tweet, it was canceled by the company where he works.
However, according to the portal The Verge, a Netflix executive contacted said medium to clarify the matter and mention the following:
“It is absolutely false to say that we have suspended any employee for tweeting about this program. Our employees are encouraged to disagree openly and we support their right to do so, ”he said.
Now, the truth is that since the Dave Chappelle special was released, it has been the subject of some controversy within the company.
According to The Verge, after it was released, some of the employees began to ask questions about whether or not trans people agreed with the broadcast of the special.
And it is that, in reality, consumers are changing; Today, there is a greater demand on their part for companies to be more responsible with the products or, as in this case, the content they offer.
Let us remember that, in this sense, we live in an era where content that is sensitive to a part of the population usually has a great impact on social networks, demanding its cancellation and, in extreme cases, suing companies.
Of course, the intention is not to reach these decisions, but to address the issue that Netflix, in this case, must review the content it publishes, because, in some way, it is part of what companies are doing today to the good of its consumers.
The Cancellation Culture Debate
This has put on the table, once again, one of the most controversial issues in recent years, which is the culture of cancellation, a fact that has generated all kinds of debates on social networks.
Without a doubt, this is a difficult dilemma to resolve, as there are those who defend that freedom of expression is essential for comedy; In the end, comedy is also a disruptive practice and it needs to be that way to have the impact it deserves.
Likewise, asking or demanding the cancellation of something or someone also speaks of a form of censorship that, wherever you want to look at it, is unacceptable. What is the solution? It is difficult to answer.
What is clear is that the debate on freedom of expression and the culture of cancellation will continue to be talked about, since content such as Dave Chappelle’s will not cease to exist even if there are thousands or millions of people who feel offended.
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