Substack writers against Nazis

A collective letter to Substack leadership

Hey friends:

You may have seen this open letter shared today from other writers who publish on Substack. My initial reaction was “oh, I agree with that— I don’t think there’s any good reason for a publishing platform that does place restrictions on some content— pornography, for example— to also be a place where active Neo-Nazis/White supremacists are allowed to make money writing racist/anti-semitic diatribes and great replacement theory canards.”

However, I didn’t immediately respond to the call to action (“Substack publishers, please re-post the letter on your newsletter”) because I thought that my readers likely fell in two categories (a). folks who were already immersed in the micro-community of “people who think about Substack” and therefore would already see the message in other places and (b). people who aren’t engaged with the internal politics of a newsletter publishing platform. In both cases, I doubted the efficacy of one more email in your inboxes.

The more I thought about it, though, I realized that this is a newsletter that explores the question of collective action and social change. And I do think that the request for Substack writers not merely to signal their support petition-style, but to share the context/message with their audiences is a smart one. It spreads both the situation and the political request to a broader audience. The unanimity of the message (and the subject line of the emails) also adds to a feeling of critical mass in a way that a list of names on a petition doesn’t. And that does matter.

That’s all to say, thanks for reading, for your patience with an extra email, and for understanding why you might be seeing the same message from multiple sources. Collective action sometimes looks like that!

Also: If you too are a writer on Substack who’d like to signal your support, you’ll find a call to action at the end of this post.

I appreciate you all, so much.

-Garrett

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Dear Chris, Hamish & Jairaj:

We’re asking a very simple question that has somehow been made complicated: Why are you platforming and monetizing Nazis? 

According to a piece written by Substack publisher Jonathan M. Katzand published by The Atlantic on November 28, this platform has a Nazi problem: 

“Some Substack newsletters by Nazis and white nationalists have thousands or tens of thousands of subscribers, making the platform a new and valuable tool for creating mailing lists for the far right. And many accept paid subscriptions through Substack, seemingly flouting terms of service that ban attempts to ‘publish content or fund initiatives that incite violence based on protected classes’...Substack, which takes a 10 percent cut of subscription revenue, makes money when readers pay for Nazi newsletters.”

As Patrick Casey, a leader of a now-defunct neo-Nazi group who is banned on nearly every other social platform except Substack, wrote on here in 2021: “I’m able to live comfortably doing something I find enjoyable and fulfilling. The cause isn’t going anywhere.” Several Nazis and white supremacists including Richard Spencer not only have paid subscriptions turned on but have received Substack “Bestseller” badges, indicating that they are making at a minimum thousands of dollars a year.

From our perspective as Substack publishers, it is unfathomable that someone with a swastika avatar, who writes about “The Jewish question,” or who promotes Great Replacement Theory, could be given the tools to succeed on your platform. And yet you’ve been unable to adequately explain your position. 

In the past you have defended your decision to platform bigotry by saying you “make decisions based on principles not PR” and “will stick to our hands-off approach to content moderation.” But there’s a difference between a hands-off approach and putting your thumb on the scale. We know you moderate some content, including spam sites and newsletters written by sex workers. Why do you choose to promote and allow the monetization of sites that traffic in white nationalism? 

Your unwillingness to play by your own rules on this issue has already led to the announced departures of several prominent Substackers, including Rusty Foster and Helena Fitzgerald. They follow previous exoduses of writers, including Substack Pro recipient Grace Lavery and Jude Ellison S. Doyle, who left with similar concerns. 

As journalist Casey Newton told his more than 166,000 Substack subscribers after Katz’s piece came out: “The correct number of newsletters using Nazi symbols that you host and profit from on your platform is zero.” 

We, your publishers, want to hear from you on the official Substack newsletter. Is platforming Nazis part of your vision of success? Let us know—from there we can each decide if this is still where we want to be.

Signed, 

Substackers Against Nazis