Substackers Against Nazis
A collective letter to Substack leadership.
Dear readers of Robert J. Rei—
When I first began using Substack seven months ago in April of this year I only knew that I wanted to be on the frontline of the battle for our liberal democracy’s defense. While during these past several months I have defined and refined my own place and position with my newsletter writings in the epistemic war against the MAGA-Conservative forces, it has also become quite evident to me that far-right extremists are not an isolated nor are they the only significant threat to our country’s 100+ years long advancement into a truly free-voting, equality-centered, prosperity-aspiring society.
Marching in near lock-step with far-right extremists are modern day Neo-Nazi groups and a White Supremacist movement; all of whom in their efforts to do away with our liberal democracy seek to replace it with their own distorted, disturbing visions of illiberal authoritarian-controlled government systems.
It has become all too clearly and obviously evident that some social media companies have chosen profits over principles by the fact that they allow their platforms to be used by these anti-democratic ideological proponents for their own purposes of disseminating their hatreds and prejudices while at the same time allowing them to be used as coordinated activity centers as well as for their own radicalization efforts; all while at the same time generating streams of income to be used in the furtherance of their war on American Democracy.
Please find below an open letter to the Substack founders that was drafted by a group of publishers here at Substack for the purpose of “seeking answers to questions about the platforming and monetizing of Nazis,” they, along with myself and numerous other publishers who are concerned about this problem are “publishing the letter on our own individual Substacks today for visibility, and to make our readers aware of our asks and concerns. Thanks for reading.”
December 14, 2023
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. Katz and 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
Thanks for reading. If this letter resonates, please share this post with others. If you’re a publisher who would like to join this collective effort, we encourage you to repost the letter on your own Substack.
Publisher signatures of support can be viewed at the letter titled:
Hi Robert, I do not have a substack platform; however, it is critically important to address the use of Substack by Nazi, neo-Nazi groups, white Supremacist and far-right extremist groups that threaten our democracy. Thank you for publishing your concerns and letter to the Substack founders. It is simply atrocious that the extremists are allowed to spew hate on Substack.
Hello Robert, I completely agree with the ideas outlined in your letter to the Substack “elite.” However, I’ve not been tech savvy enough yet to publish a full on newsletter myself. I do comments quite often, notes, chats. I hope you will allow me to restack and thus join you in that way. Thank you for your efforts and may they be fruitful.