After about one year on Substack, I was beginning to get comfortable with it and seeing some growth in membership. Then this happened. Essentially, there are some white supremacists who are making money by operating their own pages on Substack.

Many people, including some prominent writers on Substack, publicly questioned whether this was a good idea. Substack’s co-founder, Hamish McKenzie, responded to these concerns with a statement. It read in part:

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.

People can believe whatever they want, but I’m not a fan of people using Substack to profit off hate speech. And I think giving bigots cash for their behavior definitely doesn’t help to make the problem go away. Frankly, anything to be done to suppress bigoted behavior I’m in favor of.

There are many writers I respect who are wondering what this means.

Laura Jedeed, one of the premier writers on the subject of the far right in this country, and who makes a lot more money off this site than I ever have, is thinking about leaving the site.

Margaret Atwood, a great Canadian writer who knows a thing or two about bigotry and oppressive regimes, is hoping Substack comes to its senses because it’s not making sense:

No, Substack: You can’t have both the dystopian nightmare and “Flopsy Bunny’s Very Busy Day.” You can’t have both the terms of service you have spelled out and a bunch of individial publishers who violate those terms of service. One or the other has got to go, and hiding under the sofa and pretending it isn’t happening will not make your dilemma go away. Nor will some laudable rhetoric about free speech – not when you yourselves have clearly stated that not everything is allowable, including threats of “violence” and “physical harm” to “protected classes.”

So, one or the other, dear Substack. Tell us which. I am sure you mean well, but you are young and inexperienced, and did not think this through. It’s not too late! You aren’t doomed to the dystopian nightmare! You can still have “Flopsy Bunny’s Very Busy Day,” if you close your eyes tight and wish very hard.

I will say, however, I’m not truly sure how widespread the issue really is on Substack. I have yet to encounter any overt white supremacist material in my own feeds or recommendations. This article by Ian Nolen critically analyzes the Atlantic article and finds a good portion of its assertions lacking factual support¹:

The vital question, though: does Substack, indeed, have a Nazi problem? And if so, do these putative Nazis generate revenue for Substack? And if so, do they do so through direct appeals to Nazi content? As I demonstrate below, Katz’s research is sloppy at best, and negligent at worst, and much of what he uses as sources could readily be interpreted as a means to wedge in an anticonservative agenda under the auspices of the overtly-laudable task of fighting Nazis, which appears to be an underhanded bait-and-switch founded on deception, intentional or otherwise.

With all this in mind, I think I’m somewhere in the middle. On one hand, I don’t want to do anything to support white supremacists and bigots. This platform, by its own admission, is open to allowing such people to do business on Substack. I’m not a fan of giving them anything except contempt. As I mentioned a year and a month ago on this very platform:

Although there are many things that are worthy of debate, human rights and equality is not among them. Bigots of all kinds have no valid contribution to make to society and their “opinions” on what type of people are worthier than others have no value. The proper way to deal with such people is not to coddle or understand them, and certainly not to debate them. They must be shunned and opposed under any and all circumstances.

Of course, I also made the point I wasn’t getting a lot of engagement on Twitter anyway, so it really wasn’t too much of a loss for me, all things considered. Laura’s very seriously considering leaving Substack when she made $7,000 bucks last year from it. And that’s with her living in New York – I’ll admit it, $7,000 would be a lot of money in Iowa.

The other issue to consider is Substack is one of the best writing platforms I’ve yet to encounter from an ease of use viewpoint and the various features it provides (building an email list, Substack Notes, etc.). I’m not really sure what platforms out there would give me that, and I’m a bit wary of having to start over again.

Sure, there are other platforms. I’m still on Liegois Media, though I’m not sure I’d want to just rely on it.

For now, I’m going to stay on Substack. How I’m running things for now will be that all my posts will be open to everyone, but I will be paywalling all my posts three months after they are published. I’ll still accept paid subscriptions, and it turns out I’ve made it pretty cheap for you to join.

But if I change my mind, if I think this platform isn’t going to turn around, you’ll be the first to know about it. One of the advantages of the Substack platform is it’s easy to export your email lists. It’s convenient like that. Anyway as always, keep tuned to this space.

While I do appreciate you following this blog, I really would like you to subscribe to my Substack page. By subscribing to that page, you’ll not only be receiving my Substack newsletter, The Writing Life With Jason Liegois (the companion blog to this one), but you’ll also be signing up for my email list. Just click the button below.

1. I do think he brushes off the issue of how exposure to white supremacist or bigoted messages can influence people’s beliefs. ↩︎