Substack’s moderation battle: all the latest news

Filed under: Since launching in 2017, Substack has emerged as a publishing platform for writers looking to monetize their work through paid newsletters. However, as the platform has grown, so has its content. In November 2023, a report from that while Substack’s approach to content moderation banned pornography and spam, it allowed Nazi supporting and white supremacist newsletters on the platform, including some with paying subscribers that generated commissions for Substack.

These findings led more than to sign an open letter asking why the platform is letting those newsletters publish and monetize that kind of content. saying it wouldn’t remove or demonetize Nazi content. But after founder Casey Newton raised questions about Substack’s approach to content moderation, it , all while refusing to make any changes to its policies.

Here’s the story so far. Jan 12 , the tech newsletter started by alum Casey Newton, over its policies around and response to pro Nazi publications using the platform. Newton notes that after identifying seven Substack publications “that conveyed explicit support for 1930s German Nazis and called for violence against Jews, among other groups,” the platform removed one on its own along with .

The other thing that happened was that the platform’s co founders asked to keep their conversations off the record and then leaked those conversations to another publication. Jan 9 Just a couple of weeks after Substack co founder Hamish McKenzie to continue allowing Nazi content, that Substack will now remove “some” publications that express support for Nazis.

McKenzie’s December post was responding to from over 200 Substack authors who cited, among other things, a recent report in that pointed out over a dozen newsletters with overt Nazi imagery, as well as many more with evidence of extremist views. Some newsletters have left Substack over the last couple of weeks for other platforms like or , and notes that it has seen many paying customers quit, saying they do not want to contribute to a platform that they see as supporting extremism.

Dec 22, 2023 Legal blogger Ken White (aka Popehat) isn’t outright ditching Substack over its decision to . But he finds its claim of being a principled upholder of free expression, rather than a company pulling a widely recognized branding trick, a bit risible: [ popehat.substack.com ] Dec 21, 2023 More than 200 Substack authors why it’s “platforming and monetizing Nazis,” and now straight from co founder Hamish McKenzie: 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 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.” Dec 18, 2023 More than 200 Substack authors have to the company’s leadership asking them to explain why they are “ .” From the letter: Yikes! Meanwhile, Substack is to this : Apr 24, 2023 Substack CEO Chris Best may have not really answered Nilay Patel’s questions about whether racist speech would be allowed on .

But last Friday — more than a week after — co founder Hamish McKenzie shared a firmer statement in (where else?) . “Last week, we caught some heat after Chris didn’t accept the terms of a question from a podcast interviewer about how Substack will handle bigoted speech on Notes,” McKenzie said.

“It came across poorly and some people sternly criticized us for our naivety while others wondered how we’d discourage bad behaviors and content on Notes. We wish that interview had gone better and that Chris had more clearly represented our position in that moment, and we regret causing any alarm for people who care about Substack and how the platform is evolving.

We messed that up. ” (Emphasis ours.) /.