company · US
Substack
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San Francisco-based newsletter and subscription publishing platform founded in 2017. Website ↗
Documented facts (3)
A Guardian investigation found Substack earning revenue from paid newsletters promoting Nazi ideology, white supremacy and antisemitism, taking about 10% of their income. One, NatSocToday, charged $80 a year to 2,800 subscribers, and Substack's algorithm directed the Guardian's test account to 21 similar profiles within two hours.
Response: Substack did not respond to the Guardian's request for comment.
Substack's app sent a push notification encouraging users to subscribe to NatSocToday, a newsletter describing itself as serving the "National Socialist and White Nationalist Community" with a swastika logo; its profile then recommended other white nationalist publications on the platform.
Response: Substack said an error caused some people to receive push notifications "they should never have received", called it a serious error, apologised and said it had taken the relevant system offline.
After The Atlantic reported on Substack newsletters with overt Nazi symbols and more than 200 writers asked the company why it was "platforming and monetizing Nazis", co-founder Hamish McKenzie said Substack would not remove or demonetize such publications absent incitement to violence, as the company keeps a cut of their subscription revenue.
“we don't think that censorship (including through demonetizing publications) makes the problem go away—in fact, it makes it worse.”
Response: In January 2024 Substack removed five publications that Platformer had flagged, saying they broke its existing rule against incitement to violence, while stating it was not changing its content guidelines.