Hi folks, below is a letter to the Substack founders that I helped draft as part of a group of publishers seeking answers to questions about the platforming and monetizing of Nazis. We are all publishing the letter on our own individual Substacks today for visibility, and to make our readers aware of our asks and concerns. With any luck you already have, or soon will have, seen this on a large number of other substacks. Thanks for reading.
Ethically, I've avoided using substack for client projects, and have cautioned many against using substack due to its cyberlibertarianism which is a political ideology chock-full of right-wing roots. When will civic and public interest minded folks learn platforms made by and for this movement can't be trusted as ethical players in tech? It comes as no surprise that substack's morality is anti-women, a haven for anti-vaxer conspirituality, and pro-nazi under the guise of "free speech" selective-absolutism. The lack of responsibility for its harmful impacts on society is inexcusable.
Hello Dave, kudos for publishing the letter to Substack's co-founders on your Substack. I too have re-published the letter, albeit not on a Substack but rather on my Ghost-utilising blog.
As chance would have it, I spent the past four months putting together a (very) lengthy piece about Substack, coincidentally finishing and publishing it mere days after Katz's pieces were published. I did in fact read one or two of your pieces for research (about Andreessen Horowitz), one of which I quoted from a couple of times. Anyway, the material in my piece suggest to me that these efforts of collectively writing to Substack's co-founders may not culminate in the kind of result hoped for. Fingers crossed nonetheless.
Otherwise, seeing how I imagine that there could be a slew of Substackers looking for greener pastures in the near future, and seeing how I'm very familiar with the platform, I thought it might be a good idea to offer free 15-minute consultations (no longer than 15 minutes, even paid, as I'm too swamped with other writing commitments at the moment) to anybody curious about migrating to Ghost, or simply curious about the platform itself. A consultation can be booked via the green button that appears down on the bottom left of the post linked to above. To be clear, I don't work for Ghost, and I'm not being paid to do this.
Anyhow, please feel free to take me up on my offer, and/or to forward it on to any of your fellow Substack friends/colleagues who might be interested.
Thank you so much for leading on this and using your platform to put pressure on Substack. Please keep us posted on any response! I'm curious if anyone has organized any opportunities for smaller newsletters to sign an open letter or support this effort in any way.
Surprise Surprise the left is coming for Substack, not because they host “Nazis” but because it threatens there hold on culture - The left does not tolerate dissension. I find it hilarious that one writer who left Substack moderation policies, went to “ghost” which has almost zero moderation policies. The sad part is the Left used to care about free speech because it allowed the oppressed a voice. We wouldn't have gay rights without it. Anyways I expect your campaign to debank Substack will be successful. Obviously you won't agree but that's OK as Substack is a place where one can find different points of view. Enjoy it while it lasts.
'Grace' Lavery is at least as dangerous as nazis. The irony being that gay socialists are regularly called nazis by trans activists for rejecting GI/QT.
Despite being just an ordinary individual, I find myself putting in maximum effort to gain more subscribers, ensuring that my voice is not merely echoing into an empty void.
You already know the answer to the question the letter asks. You knew when all the anti-trans crap went down and you chose to stay. Stop the performative posturing and either leave the Nazi bar or stay in it.
I left twitter and Facebook, and I will leave substack if this continues. I won’t participate in platforms that tolerate Nazis. In fact I am deleting this app right now
Ethically, I've avoided using substack for client projects, and have cautioned many against using substack due to its cyberlibertarianism which is a political ideology chock-full of right-wing roots. When will civic and public interest minded folks learn platforms made by and for this movement can't be trusted as ethical players in tech? It comes as no surprise that substack's morality is anti-women, a haven for anti-vaxer conspirituality, and pro-nazi under the guise of "free speech" selective-absolutism. The lack of responsibility for its harmful impacts on society is inexcusable.
Thank you for this. Have you considered writing a similar letter to Stripe? It might be more effective. See: https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/12/13/nandini-jammi-alex-jones-demonetization/
Hello Dave, kudos for publishing the letter to Substack's co-founders on your Substack. I too have re-published the letter, albeit not on a Substack but rather on my Ghost-utilising blog.
As chance would have it, I spent the past four months putting together a (very) lengthy piece about Substack, coincidentally finishing and publishing it mere days after Katz's pieces were published. I did in fact read one or two of your pieces for research (about Andreessen Horowitz), one of which I quoted from a couple of times. Anyway, the material in my piece suggest to me that these efforts of collectively writing to Substack's co-founders may not culminate in the kind of result hoped for. Fingers crossed nonetheless.
https://ff2f.com/how-to-ghost-substack/
Otherwise, seeing how I imagine that there could be a slew of Substackers looking for greener pastures in the near future, and seeing how I'm very familiar with the platform, I thought it might be a good idea to offer free 15-minute consultations (no longer than 15 minutes, even paid, as I'm too swamped with other writing commitments at the moment) to anybody curious about migrating to Ghost, or simply curious about the platform itself. A consultation can be booked via the green button that appears down on the bottom left of the post linked to above. To be clear, I don't work for Ghost, and I'm not being paid to do this.
Anyhow, please feel free to take me up on my offer, and/or to forward it on to any of your fellow Substack friends/colleagues who might be interested.
All the best,
Allan
Thank you so much for leading on this and using your platform to put pressure on Substack. Please keep us posted on any response! I'm curious if anyone has organized any opportunities for smaller newsletters to sign an open letter or support this effort in any way.
Surprise Surprise the left is coming for Substack, not because they host “Nazis” but because it threatens there hold on culture - The left does not tolerate dissension. I find it hilarious that one writer who left Substack moderation policies, went to “ghost” which has almost zero moderation policies. The sad part is the Left used to care about free speech because it allowed the oppressed a voice. We wouldn't have gay rights without it. Anyways I expect your campaign to debank Substack will be successful. Obviously you won't agree but that's OK as Substack is a place where one can find different points of view. Enjoy it while it lasts.
What in holy fuck, this is disgusting Substack
If you use Substack’s Feedback feature under Settings, the letter will go directly to Substack.
Also contact:
@Hamish McKenzie @Chris Best @Jairaj Sethi
Well, let me know when it's time to follow you to Ghost or whatever.
'Grace' Lavery is at least as dangerous as nazis. The irony being that gay socialists are regularly called nazis by trans activists for rejecting GI/QT.
Despite being just an ordinary individual, I find myself putting in maximum effort to gain more subscribers, ensuring that my voice is not merely echoing into an empty void.
You already know the answer to the question the letter asks. You knew when all the anti-trans crap went down and you chose to stay. Stop the performative posturing and either leave the Nazi bar or stay in it.
I left twitter and Facebook, and I will leave substack if this continues. I won’t participate in platforms that tolerate Nazis. In fact I am deleting this app right now
Of course.