Have folks read the recently published "Environmental Social Governance" report from Netflix? There are some interesting statistics in it, ranging from energy consumption to diversity and inclusion rates. What's received a good deal of buzz in the trades, though, is Netflix's account of what titles have been removed from its service. Per The Hollywood Reporter, "Netflix says in the report that it has removed a total of nine different TV shows and movies since the service launched. The company says that, going forward, it will reveal all government takedown demands annually... Of the nine takedown demands, five came from the government of Singapore, while Saudi Arabia demanded the removal of an episode of Patriot Act."
As Netflix grows across national borders, it should be interesting to track these "government takedowns". It might shed some light on our understanding of Netflix as the location — or not — of a cultural forum, per Newcomb. Can its content merely, "comment on ideological problems," and open a, "rhetoric of discussion" if the streamer is complying with state censorship? Reed Hastings commented, prior to Ted Sarandos's correction, "We’re not in the 'truth to power' business, we’re in the entertainment business … We can accomplish a lot more by being entertainment and influencing a global conversation about how people live than trying to be another news channel...” The contradiction is obvious. Next year's report should be interesting...
Links:
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/netflix-titles-removed-government-demands-1277175
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/how-netflix-navigates-increased-scrutiny-international-territories-1229760
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/netflixs-ted-sarandos-talks-disney-original-content-1254766
https://s22.q4cdn.com/959853165/files/doc_downloads/2020/02/0220_Netflix_EnvironmentalSocialGovernanceReport_FINAL.pdf
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