Why the Substack Against Nazis Movement Sucks
A rant against popular trends and media funded "movements".
Hey Everyone,
I hope you had a good break. I have to say something and it might not be too popular.
I’ve been horrified in recent weeks how Substack Notes has degenerated into a campaign against the platform, against its own administrators and leaders. Content moderation is everywhere on the internet and there are few places where free speech exists (if it exists at all). This is not just about demonizating Neo-Nazi Newsletters. This is about a bigger problem.
I have had people try to “convert” me over to the Campaign point of view. Substack has always been full of American ‘sicko media’ and a whole range of questionable content. What Israel is doing to Palestine killing 23x as many (mostly innocent civilian young people) as October 7th did is pretty sick to me.
Substack is a free speech platform
Content moderation does not have good outcomes (it leads to more moderation)
Substack is a small startup, it cannot realistically even afford content moderation
Substack is an agonistic tool, Newsletters about anything should exist for us to see, like a collective mirror.
That users of a platform would try to demonstrate (do they even know how to protest in America any longer for real?) and create a toxic campaign against one of the last bastions of free speech online (an oasis of sorts) is terrible for me. Because it hurts the ecosystem where I make a meagre living.
So Then Leave!
I would like to see what @Katz or
would be without Substack.There are so many worthwhile things to protest about in this world, this is not one of them.
Now my Substack Notes is clogged with all of this political nonsense, against the very platform these people use.
I appreciate that Substack is an agnostic tool, they should NEVER get involved in content moderation.
One thing would lead to another, and all sorts of content moderation would be taking place. Substack’s ideology spins a good tale (most of which is not factual), but free speech has to remain in the public square and it’s a Newsletter, most people will never see it anyways. YouTube and TikTok are full of questionable content, even with their content moderation A.I. and significant (literally legions) of traumatized contractors.
The anti-vaccine movement in the U.S. was totally pathetic, and it thrived on Substack. There is and will continue to be tons of misinformation here, most Newsletters are all about clickbait, gimmicks and entertainment. I don’t care for political content myself. But it has destroyed Notes of late. This campaign is bar none, the dumbest thing I’ve ever seen on Notes.
I will personally be very happy to see Newsletter leave on principle. Successful elites who have no financial worries in the world can afford to squabble over fucking Neo-Nazis. Considering what Israel is doing also at this very moment, this movement seems very cringe to me. I’m appalled as the state of the world but I don’t be projecting that on a platform, that for the most part allows me to write. Human beings need freedom of expression. It should be a human right.
Let’s be honest here, I’m a futurist at heart, and I think Civil War in the U.S. is a real possibility, too much debt is going to catch up with that entire civilization. Debt, a demographic winter, global conflict and anti-American sentiment is building. You have no idea what is coming.
But let’s face it, foreign affairs have been badly mismanaged. At home, America is a hotpot of racial discrimination, crime, mass murders (mass shootings/white terror), sexism, wealth inequality, disillusioned young people, unaffordable basic healthcare and housing. Neo-Nazi’s aren’t the problem. And content moderation, isn’t even the answer. America’s mental health is really bad right now. I get it.
Substack leadership doesn’t know how to do PR, that’s a fact. In a note on the site published in December, the chief writing officer, Hamish made some odd statements. The interviews and podcasts of the CEO are super cringe. These are’t stellar businses people or startup conaaisors. They are just people. But I think overall they mean well and I agree with their basic positions on content moderation and free speech.
Substack does have a net positive benefit to humanity, sure some political writing inherits some of the most cringe elements of Twitter but that’s how Substack chose to grow and scale their business. Substack directly inherited this karma due to its growth choices as a company and as a brand. Substack ate Twitter click-fucks and it shows. They ate them for fucking breakfast. So this is what you get.
They chose to support clickbait political writers and ideological weaponization including Anti-vaccine rhetoric (very profitable!), Neo-Nazi content and anti-trans rhetoric and whatever else. I’m not a fan of how they chose to scale the platform or that they think they are empowering culture.
Empowering Culture?
Let’s face it, there’s very little real world demand for cultural writing. Meanwhile, the mainstream media has always tried to hurt the reputation of Substack, who are yet another threat to their dismal future. Katz just gave them what they wanted, a rally cry that even now “users” of the platform have embraced. The piece by Katz in the Atlantic built up a campaign and I wonder who is funding this petty campaign? There’s clearly real money behind it and influencers “joining” it is getting a bit suspect.
Do you think I care about what Atwood, Katz or Newton think? These are very successful writers who don’t bat an eyelash over how their actions might hurt other writers.
I hate this campaign because it just causes more division and hurts indie writers because it hurts the platform we use.
Most writers try to build communities and some of those will have fringe elements that could end up being harmful to society. There is a lot of division in the United States and its two-party system. And yet, I’ve seen the failings of ideology on all sides including how Substack markets itself. Substack is a political swamp of ideological reflections of this bimodular Right and Left which demonstrates that 2024 is going to get pretty toxic.
But user campaigns against a platform? This has gone too far. It doesn’t have any cultural value. America is not remotely a place where you can be safe if you are different. There are so many other better countries for women, racial minorities, poor people, Jews, LGTBQ folk or whatever. This campaign makes no fucking difference to reality, but it does hurt writers trying to earn a living here.
How many hundreds of thousands of dollars do you suppose Katz has cost Substack as a platform with this bizarre hit piece and strange movement? These people know Substack is not about moderation. It’s serious financial damage. Where is the list of people and publications that have or will leave the platform?
The User Campaign Hurts Substack’s Brand Reputation
No I won’t sign your fucking petition. Jonathan M. Katz really is at the end of his life and can say what he likes, but in doing so he is hurting the little guys. He didn’t make the world a better place by profiteering that op-ed in the Atlantic. Heck, he probably did it for the money. It’s a hit piece. A lot of the big Newsletters who are threatening to leave, got a lot of people unsubscribing from their paid subscriptions apparently? All of this damages Substack’s brand beyond recognition. Most real journalists won’t touch it for this reason, long before this campaign. I’ve spoken to dozens myself.
I really want people involved in this Campaign to leave Substack.
I won’t use Notes if it is full of such crap.
I was more hurt by the Anti-Trans content than I am alarmed that Neo-Nazis exist in Newsletters. Who fucking cares? But I don’t consider America a real democracy and I certainly don’t enjoy what the public debate on the internet over these things has become. There are likely people actually funding this latest flavor of the anti-Substack campaign. But for humble writers, some of us actually fund our lives here, you are messing with our small garden.
That people want to be social justice crusaders at my expense, a platform that I depend on to feed my family, irks me. If Substack gets hurt, all writers on Substack get hurt. It’s just, not worth it.
Where is the list of Newsletter Creators giving in to the peer pressure of this campaign? I want to personally write them each a goodbye note.
This is the article that started all of this.
I consider the campaign very clickbait and detrimental to the entire ecosystem.
If Substack “gives in” to any step of moderation, it will only escalate into new topics and subjects.
I’ve seen a lot of fake critics, and people who use ideology for their monetary benefit. It’s profitable to be against something, especially on Substack. So why do these elites do it? Why foster disent about Substack?
America treats its minorities really badly. Not having Neo-Nazis on Substack is not going to change literally, anything.
Meanwhile Israel is killing more children, more innocent civilians, at a very alarming rate. Doesn’t that mean anything? What America is doing trying to maintain its unipolar dominance over the rest of the world will definately cause world war 3. Let’s see how you protest World War 3 folks!
At least know what you are signing up for. If Substack had to spend a lot of money to do content moderation, it might have to take more than 10% of our revenue. And another platform would take its place.
I’m super tired of switching platforms. This turning on the hand that feeds you is super toxic. I really hate this campaign.
But I guess it’s profitable to hop on the bandwagon:
Perhaps Substack is not at a crossroads, perhaps you are. And how many Newsletter writers are joining this campaign for ulterior motives? Do they even care about Neo-Nazi content or racial and ethnic divisions in the country? Do they think a digital campaign against a platform is rational? Are they naive enough to think content moderation even works? Serious questions.
The mainstream media is the enemy of Substack not because they are full of liberals, or because they care about Jewish people, but because it’s eating at their profits.
The Substack Against Nazis campaign is the most toxic thing I’ve ever seen on Substack or on Substack Notes.
I get so upset when I read Sustack Notes now full of his propaganda, and it makes me not want to read these Newsletters who support this harmful campaign.