Almost everybody I’m interacting with is condemning Substack for their refusal to remove or demonetize Nazi voices. I don’t get it.
To be clear, I - for lack of more accurate words - strongly dislike, disagree with, and fear Nazism.
That’s exactly why we shouldn’t censor them.
Nazis are the ones who censor, we don’t. Nazis are the ones who can’t defend their ideology with civility, we can. Nazis are the ones who are terribly afraid of free speech and act macho about it - we believe in the equality of humankind and our individual fallibility, and have a voice for everyone.
Especially if we disagree with them. The more we disagree, the more we should flaunt the opposition’s views and show the public why exactly they’re wrong.
A few weeks ago, something similar happened on TikTok with Osama bin Laden’s Letter to America. I don’t think it was the letter itself that changed the opinions of many - it was that we all think that terrorists/Nazis/IDF or Hamas depending on where you are on the spectrum/any community that is generally hated are uncouth, ignorant, idiots.
But they’re not. Or if they are, they definitely don’t sound like it.
This is a serious problem. We color somebody into a particular shade, and then when somebody else sees them to be of a different color, we close the curtains. I'm sorry to say it - but this is dumb, folks.
Side point: yeah, the color the public sees bin Laden or some Nazis is incorrect, but that's mostly our fault. There is a visual perception phenomenon called simultaneous contrast - shades are more intense if we see them next to a very different shade. I think this applies to opinions too. If we insist on animalizing human beings, then we're giving leverage to our enemies - because they are human, and it's no use pretending that they're not. Teach your children to view people more nuancedly, lest the normality of terrorists mislead them into condoning terrorism.
Substack, after all, isn’t actively promoting Nazi content. The algorithm is just doing its job - an algorithm that is meant to reflect the general population's interests.
If people are interested in Nazi ideology, it could be one of a couple of things. It could be humorous, for example, and people are sharing it along and mocking it. Or maybe it sounds right. If you believe something is wrong - and I do strongly believe that Nazi ideology is wrong - talk against it. Show the public why they're wrong.
Not only is that the more ethical and courageous thing to do, it is the more logical one too. Information has never been easier to access. The Streisand Effect demonstrates this well - when you try to censor something, it becomes more famous.
We cannot close curtains anymore, but we never should have. Go out there and show people why your eyesight is correct. Don't give them leverage by censorship or animalizing. Accept that they are human and that their opinion has as much right to be public as yours, and refuse to stoop to their levels.
If this interested you, a post I wrote relating to this - Harassing Harassers.