Too bad. I think Substack's policies are the right ones, and I think Casey's beliefs about content moderation are both shallow and mistaken (that said, I do respect his willingness to back his beliefs with actions).
For those interested in wiser perspectives on both the Substack debate and content moderation more generally, I would recommend the following pieces:
(Freddie also wrote this https://freddiedeboer.substack.com/p/these-rules-about-platforming-nazis, which is specifically about the current controversy but combines some points I agree with a bunch of personal attacks and invective that I don't; to be clear, I think folks like Jonathan Katz and Casey are sincere, just misguided).
Finally, I will just add one point. Casey's fundamental case for switching to Ghost from Substack is his belief that Substack's features beyond hosting means it will "accelerate the growth of hate movements." Given that we're 3+ years into Substack's existence and there is literally no evidence that this is the case would, one would think, give Casey reason to reconsider whether his beliefs about content moderation are true. But apparently not.
I think the point is that these features haven’t existed for all of that three years. The app redesign especially has made it harder for me to see recent editions of all the things I subscribe to and much much easier to see new things I don’t. The ‘Today In’ box always contains at least one conspiracist publication I would never read and would rather not be aware of so it stands to reason that other people who would read them are finding them too. Discovery is a major part of the draw for new publications to launch of Substack instead of elsewhere, and I personally don’t think it’s unreasonable to say hate speech shouldn’t be pushed as part of that ecosystem.
Fair point Sam. Notes is certainly a (relatively) new feature, though I don't think the other features that I think Casey and others have highlighted as concerns (leaderboards and suggested Substacks, as well as their in house newsletter) are. Certainly, I have never been recommended or discovered anything on Substack the least bit Naziesque.
Too bad. I think Substack's policies are the right ones, and I think Casey's beliefs about content moderation are both shallow and mistaken (that said, I do respect his willingness to back his beliefs with actions).
For those interested in wiser perspectives on both the Substack debate and content moderation more generally, I would recommend the following pieces:
- Elle Griffin's open letter: https://www.elysian.press/p/substack-writers-for-community-moderation
- Ben Dreyfuss: https://www.calmdownben.com/p/substack-doesnt-have-a-nazi-problem
- Freddie DeBoer: https://freddiedeboer.substack.com/p/you-cant-censor-away-extremism-or
(Freddie also wrote this https://freddiedeboer.substack.com/p/these-rules-about-platforming-nazis, which is specifically about the current controversy but combines some points I agree with a bunch of personal attacks and invective that I don't; to be clear, I think folks like Jonathan Katz and Casey are sincere, just misguided).
It's also worth reading Jesse Singal's piece about Casey, which he alludes to but doesn't link: https://jessesingal.substack.com/p/platformers-reporting-on-substacks
Finally, I will just add one point. Casey's fundamental case for switching to Ghost from Substack is his belief that Substack's features beyond hosting means it will "accelerate the growth of hate movements." Given that we're 3+ years into Substack's existence and there is literally no evidence that this is the case would, one would think, give Casey reason to reconsider whether his beliefs about content moderation are true. But apparently not.
I think the point is that these features haven’t existed for all of that three years. The app redesign especially has made it harder for me to see recent editions of all the things I subscribe to and much much easier to see new things I don’t. The ‘Today In’ box always contains at least one conspiracist publication I would never read and would rather not be aware of so it stands to reason that other people who would read them are finding them too. Discovery is a major part of the draw for new publications to launch of Substack instead of elsewhere, and I personally don’t think it’s unreasonable to say hate speech shouldn’t be pushed as part of that ecosystem.
Fair point Sam. Notes is certainly a (relatively) new feature, though I don't think the other features that I think Casey and others have highlighted as concerns (leaderboards and suggested Substacks, as well as their in house newsletter) are. Certainly, I have never been recommended or discovered anything on Substack the least bit Naziesque.