Substack made me—and many others who host their newsletters here—mad again this week. Those of you who have been here for a while know this newsletter started on Tinyletter (RIP) in 2015, moved to Substack in 2019, left for Twitter-owned Revue in 2021
I’m so glad you wrote this. Been talking about this with other trust and safety folks as I’m struggling with this as well. This came up too with Meta accepting 2020 election denialism ads. I wish leaders of these companies would better outline their thinking process and what tradeoffs they were weighing when making these decisions.
For instance, I think they both can't afford the operational costs to have more nuanced content moderation, but also want to stick to their strict free speech principles for as long as possible so as to not open up more pressure for them to have more nuanced policies. I do think they'll eventually be forced into it like every platform has.
This is an interesting question too of whether it would be better that they have more nuanced policies even if they can only reactively enforce or try to hold out as long as possible. They are still very green in working on many of these things so I don't know how nuanced their thinking even is. 100 percent agree the post could use some comms polish too.
I’m staying on Substack too, for now, as I agree about continuing to make noise and talk about these issues.
Thank you. Well said. Now, is there a way to pinpoint, or at least estimate, how MUCH money Substack makes from (and for!) Nazis? Maybe we can shame them with a dollar figure...
Really, you should be thankful that substack has a strong enough commitment to free speech that they even let a censorious would be thoughtpolicewoman use their platform.
Substack is clearly taking a principled stance by refusing to deplatform Nazis. If the owners of Substack were motivated primarily by money they would allow porn and turn this site into Only Fans. Sex sells -- a lot. Nazis sell very little. I am grateful that the people behind Substack have integrity and backbone and are standing firm. Good for them -- and us!!!
I’m so glad you wrote this. Been talking about this with other trust and safety folks as I’m struggling with this as well. This came up too with Meta accepting 2020 election denialism ads. I wish leaders of these companies would better outline their thinking process and what tradeoffs they were weighing when making these decisions.
For instance, I think they both can't afford the operational costs to have more nuanced content moderation, but also want to stick to their strict free speech principles for as long as possible so as to not open up more pressure for them to have more nuanced policies. I do think they'll eventually be forced into it like every platform has.
This is an interesting question too of whether it would be better that they have more nuanced policies even if they can only reactively enforce or try to hold out as long as possible. They are still very green in working on many of these things so I don't know how nuanced their thinking even is. 100 percent agree the post could use some comms polish too.
I’m staying on Substack too, for now, as I agree about continuing to make noise and talk about these issues.
Thank you. Well said. Now, is there a way to pinpoint, or at least estimate, how MUCH money Substack makes from (and for!) Nazis? Maybe we can shame them with a dollar figure...
I appreciate the legwork and overall structure, thank you.
Their posture may last (at least until the next wave of even bigger writer protest), but it’s intellectually weak.
Maybe everything in T&S really does hinge on porn and Nazis at some stage 😋.
Fwiw the CEO is Chris, not Matt, Best.
Really, you should be thankful that substack has a strong enough commitment to free speech that they even let a censorious would be thoughtpolicewoman use their platform.
Substack is clearly taking a principled stance by refusing to deplatform Nazis. If the owners of Substack were motivated primarily by money they would allow porn and turn this site into Only Fans. Sex sells -- a lot. Nazis sell very little. I am grateful that the people behind Substack have integrity and backbone and are standing firm. Good for them -- and us!!!