Substack out, Medium in
I'm deleting my Substack account and moving my favorite posts to Medium.
I'm deleting my Substack account after the company announced that it would tolerate openly Nazi content and other hate speech, while prohibiting content made "for the sole purpose of sexual gratification." While the US Constitution recognizes the rights of both, I do not believe a private company is in any way obligated to apply a similar standard to privately produced content, nor does Substack appear to be doing so on the basis of any consistent principle. As others have pointed out, this is likely just a simple pecuniary decision, marketing the platform as “free speech” (read: edgy right-wing blather) to juice growing revenues. That is the company’s prerogative, as it is mine to disagree, which I do.
Brass tacks: Nazism and its fellow travelers are inherently morally repugnant; pornography made by consenting adults, while you may dislike it aesthetically, is not.
I’m not sure if Medium is any better of a platform, but until I hear otherwise, I’m moving my writing here. You can still “subscribe”—the email newsletter function is also there. I realize this is much easier for me than for other writers who need the income from their Substack posts, and to them I wish the best of luck. I will continue to read them there, as I hope you’ll continue to read me on Medium! Thanks for your support.