“We don’t think that censorship (including through demonetizing publications) makes the problem go away.”

More than 200 Substack authors asked the platform to explain why it’s “platforming and monetizing Nazis,” and now they have an answer straight from co-founder Hamish McKenzie:

I just want to make it clear that we don’t like Nazis either—we wish no-one held those views. But some people do hold those and other extreme views. Given that, we don’t think that censorship (including through demonetizing publications) makes the problem go away—in fact, it makes it worse.

While McKenzie offers no evidence to back these ideas, this tracks with the company’s previous stance on taking a hands-off approach to moderation. In April, Substack CEO Chris Best appeared on the Decoder podcast and refused to answer moderation questions. “We’re not going to get into specific ‘would you or won’t you’ content moderation questions” over the issue of overt racism being published on the platform, Best said. McKenzie followed up later with a similar statement to the one today, saying “we don’t like or condone bigotry in any form.”

  • PoliticalAgitatorEnglish
    1·
    10 months ago

    So how many races does this “Rawley Balko” advocate the systemic genocide of? Do you think they’ll still be free to say whatever they like under a fascist dictatorship?

    Apologists for Nazi scum always pretend its somehow a noble view and they’re heroes for holding it, but they may as well be helping a rapist pin someone down and then expecting a round of applause for being a good samaritan.

    But you don’t see them claiming “Oh so you don’t believe in sexual freedom after all? Just until someone does an act you don’t like?” because sexual assault is a reprehensible act and we we’re under no obligation to tolerate it just because a scumbag wants to do it and a neckbeard thinks it would be logically consistent (and not something they’ll ever be the the victim of).

    Well advocating the murder and oppression of millions of people is a reprehensible act. Grooming children with memes and the mentally ill with conspiracy theories is a reprehensible act. Openly celebrating mass shooters is a reprehensible act.

    And we’re under no moral obligation to tolerate it.