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.”
Don’t forget the, “I’m not going to answer questions about specific would you or won’t you moderation issues” bullshit.
Which is…such an insane and flagrant “I’m a fucking idiot and I assume you are too,” tee up for any quarter way decent journalist. It sets you up perfectly to make that look like the mountain of horseshit that it is with the simplest of follow-ups.
I have to guess that you’re referencing the Decoder interview with Nilay Patel, and if not here’s another example of Substack being absolutely abhorrent. Transcript. It’s one of the most mealy mouthed tech bro bullshit things I’ve ever heard.