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

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ca/post/11806416

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.”

  • Amelia_@lemmy.blahaj.zone
    23·
    1 year ago

    Oh my, I hope they didn’t hurt themselves with all the mental gymnastics they had to do!

    “we don’t like or condone bigotry in any form.” = “We don’t limit or defund bigotry in any form”

    What’s that saying about if you’re sitting at a table with a Nazi and you don’t say anything then there’s another Nazi at the table?

    • squirrel@lemmy.blahaj.zoneOPMEnglish
      23·
      1 year ago

      Yeah, besides Substack is also prohibiting content by sex workers. Their whole “freeze peach” argument is so openly the usual right-wing gaslighting.

  • DigitalTraveler42@lemmy.worldEnglish
    121·
    1 year ago

    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.

    Hurr durr freeze peach! This guy is just another “free speech advocate” like Musk, just another shitty person who can’t understand lack of accountability just grows more Nazis, and probably harbors nazi sympathy for one shitty reason or another.

    The only people that moderation, demonetization, deplatforming, and good old accountability makes things worse for is the Nazis and similar shitheads, and fuck those pieces of shit, i have no sympathy for them, nor do they have sympathy for the rest of us.

    Time to start filtering out and blocking the entire substack domain, just like X/shitter, and time for the good folks blogging and posting on there, like NBA hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, to find a new platform.

    For anyone who doesn’t know Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has an outstanding political blog, he does cover some basketball and sports related topics, especially when politics is mixed into the topic, but it’s mostly about politics, current events, and civil/human rights. Kareem’s work is very well written and well researched and he provides very nuanced and experienced opinions based on his decades of advocacy work in civil, human, and equal rights and his connection to the various movements dating back to the 60’s.