Elon Musk Applauds Netflix For Valuing Artistic Freedom Over Employee Comfort

Tesla CEO and SpaceX founder Elon Musk previously said that he thought Netflix had a "woke mind virus." As of Sunday, he has since changed his tune.

After the streaming service updated its "Netflix Culture" guidelines, Musk complimented the company for putting artistic expression over employee comfort.

The new "Artistic Expression" section of the guidelines comes after public ire surrounding comedian Dave Chappelle's special "The Closer." In the special, many viewed jokes made by Chappelle in the special as transphobic.

In the backlash's wake, employees walked out and many company insiders criticized the release of the special. Still, amid mass protests and outrage the company never removed the title from its service and Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos fiercely defended Chappelle.

After the news of changes to Netflix's guidelines emerged Friday, Musk praised the company in a tweet on Sunday. He wrote that the new section was a "good move."

Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch, mentioned Musk in his tweet about the news and wrote that "@Elon Musk seems to be having an impact beyond @Twitter." This, however, that would be hard to determine. Also, it is unclear whether Musk actually believes his influence on Twitter impacted changes to Netflix's guidelines.

The addition of the "Artistic Expression" section clarifies that the service lets users determine what they want to watch. Users can also avoid what they find objectionable.

In the section, Netflix reaffirms support for "the artistic expression of the creators." Meanwhile, it says that employees must "support the principle that Netflix offers a diversity of stories," regardless of whether they find those stories objectionable.

"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," the new section reads.

As a free speech absolutist, Musk's previous comments show that free speech is one of his most important priorities. That priority led to his $44 billion offer for Twitter, which is now on hold.

Twitter's stock was down $2.20 or 5.40% to $38.52 as of Monday at 10 a.m. ET. At the same time, Netflix stock was up by $1.26 or .67% to $188.80.