Hate Speech as Laissez Faire Economics

Substack writers call out platforming and promotion of white supremacists.

Just after Thanksgiving, journalist Jonathan Katz, who publishes a fascinating foreign and domestic affairs newsletter on this here Substack platform, penned a piece for the Atlantic that holds a mirror to the obvious problem with Substack as a free-speech beacon. 

It promotes Nazis.

Which is not to say that Substack co-founders Hamish McKenzie, Chris Best and Jairaj Sethi are Nazis, or even like the idea of Naziism or white supremacy. It is to say that they enthusiastically provide a platform for hate speech.

And that’s by design. Back in April, McKenzie wrote a Note explaining that Substack was “building a system where money made by writers, not attention that is harvested by algorithms, drives the whole economy. It means we give communities on Substack the tools to establish their own norms and set their own terms of engagement rather than have all that handed down to them by a central authority. And it means we give people the power to decide for themselves what they see and who’s in their community with them.”

What I read was, “Say anything you want, as long as you make us money!”

What I also read was, “We’re not going to steer you to like-minded writers, but if you recruit your own readers - even if they are white supremacists who call for the forced sterilization of people with low IQs - Substack is perfectly happy to host your party.”

As Katz pointed out, the founders have gone even further than hosting. This summer, McKenzie interviewed white supremacist writer Richard Hanania on the Substack company podcast, The Active Voice. 

Writes Katz: “On Twitter the previous month, Hanania, a political scientist with a law degree from the University of Chicago, had described Black people as ‘animals’ who should be subject to ‘more policing, incarceration, and surveillance.’”

Hanania also previously wrote under a pseudonym for white supremacist websites, which is where the low IQ quote comes from. When that info surfaced after The Active Voice podcast appearance, Hanania blamed the blowback he was getting on journalists who “dislike anyone acknowledging statistical differences between races.”

Which doesn’t sound white supremacist-y at all.

Raising Voices Against Hate

The reaction to Katz’ piece was an open letter, published by Substack writers, to encourage the platform to stop making money off of people who espouse speech that leads to mass shootings (Tree of Life Synagogue, Christchurch Mosque, Buffalo…)

McKenzie, for his part, defended his decision to promote Hanania because the latter’s book, The Origins of Woke “is in hot demand from reviewers.”

Which solidifies what I’ve always found icky about the people who run this platform - they are more interested in marketing and making money than they are about ideas and speech. They are full-on supply-siders, literally creating a marketplace out of ideas. They want to monetize extremism as much as Facebook and Twitter do, but they want to be more passive-aggressive and high-handed about it.

As I’ve pointed out to fellow writers on Substack Notes, there isn’t even a category for Think Pieces or Journalism Criticism on Substack - both of which are the best descriptors for You’re Overthinking It.

If I were sharing recipes (believe me, you don’t want cooking tips from me) or recommending books, or traveling around the world writing “Carrie’s guides,” I would have tons of paying subscribers. Somehow I feel like that’s akin to fiddling while Rome burns.

But that’s just me.

Should I Keep Writing?

This leaves me, of course, with a dilemma. I like Substack. Mostly. I have found essential newsletters on here that inform me in ways the daily mainstream media does not. I’ve made community with fellow writers. And the tools the founders have created really are helpful.

And, I learned from Katz, that there are only 17,000 writers who earn money from Substack. Which is not that many, comparatively speaking. And I’m one of them, thanks mostly to loyal supporters who are fans of my Vegas journalism.

So, do I stay or do I go in protest? I do not participate in Twitter anymore, because the people I followed and the community I had built was decimated. 

I would like to stay here and fight for this writing and reading community. And I guess that Substack’s argument that newsletters are sufficiently walled off from each other means that the whole enterprise won’t go down, a la Twitter, when it comes out that the next mass shooter wrote his racist manifesto on the platform, and nobody realized because of the laissez-faire content moderation.

This presents another dilemma, because I am very much trying to make a living off of this newsletter, and for that I beseech readers every week to become paid subscribers.

Substack will make money off of my paid subscriptions going up, too. But perhaps the argument is that people like me, people like Teddy Wilson (who has his finger on the pulse of extremism); people like economics writers Zach Silk, Joe Politano, Claudia Sahm, and Dana Miranda; people like Ramona Grigg, Radley Balko, Erin Reed, or Joe Fedorko (especially Joe Fedorko) will make more money than people who traffic in hate. And Substack will start promoting us.

Who am I kidding. Hate and outrage will always attract more eyes and ears than nuanced writing. And Substack’s founders will always gravitate toward the bling. But a girl can dream.

I will end with this: standing for truth is a long game. Katz quoted a white supremacist saying he makes a “comfortable living” off of writing his hate. If more people help those of us who write about truth to make a living, then that is an antidote to the hate. Small steps. Because my mirrors don’t have cracks in them, and they don’t lie to me. And there are too many of them around for me to stay silent.

A Note for the Next Couple of Weeks

My people - the people I birthed - will be turning 21 this week, and I am spending my time celebrating with them. I’ve pre-written a list of what I’ve been reading, and I’ll add one or two items as the week goes on. So Christmas Eve will be more list-like than thought-y. I will likely not publish anything on New Year’s Eve.

In the meantime, have a good week, have a safe week, get lost in your holiday movies, cook food that is better than mine, hug your kids and your parents, keep paying attention, and celebrate everyone’s humanity. I appreciate you all.

Perhaps this might make a good gift?

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