Platformer is leaving Substack and migrating to Ghost, saying it doesn't believe Substack will publicly commit to proactively removing pro-Nazi material
After much consideration, we have decided to move Platformer off of Substack. Over the next few days, the publication will migrate …
PlatformerCasey Newton
Context & Ripple Effects
Platformer’s exit follows Substack’s decision to remove some Nazi publications without committing to proactive removal of neo-Nazi and far-right extremist content. That policy line came after reporting identified numerous extremist newsletters and amid criticism of the company’s moderation stance.
The dispute also sharpens the weakness in Substack’s claim to be neutral infrastructure: its recommendations and monetization choices make moderation policy consequential for publishers that share the platform.
First-order effects
Platformer will move its publication from Substack to Ghost, making its distribution and publishing stack independent of a platform whose policy it rejects.
The move gives other Substack writers a concrete alternative if they conclude that the platform’s moderation choices create reputational or audience risks.
Ghost gains a visible migration case, while Substack faces renewed pressure to show that its content rules match its role in recommending and monetizing publications rather than merely hosting them.
Third-order effects
If prominent publishers increasingly treat moderation standards as a vendor-selection criterion, newsletter platforms will compete on governance and migration portability alongside payments, publishing tools, and audience reach.
The episode points to a durable tension for creator platforms: a neutrality posture is harder to sustain when platform design actively recommends content to readers and enables publishers to monetize it.
The trend: Creator-publishing platforms are becoming accountable for the editorial and monetization consequences of their distribution systems, not just their hosting tools.
Huge praise for @crumbler for his decision to move his excellent newsletter, Platformer, off of Substack after the hosting company wouldn't commit to proactively remove Nazi publications. Platformer, a regular read for me, will continue on another hosting company, Ghost.
I would mind Substack deciding that it won't kick off Nazis rather less if it hadn't spent the last couple of years sanctimoniously lecturing of us all about how it would never ever have these problems because advertising and something called ‘Algorithms’ are the only possible ca…
“We didn't ask Substack to solve racism. We asked it to give us an easy, low-drama place to do business, and to commit to not funding and accelerating the growth of hate movements. Ultimately we did not get either.” Substack's enrolled all its writers in the culture war, wheth…
Feels likelier than ever that Ghost, nonprofit with wonderful publishing tech and no aspirations to be a social network, will be a real winner here https://substack.com/...
I applaud @crumbler for doing the right thing here and leaving Substack, and his piece as to why he is doing so is a comprehensive explanation of his reasoning in doing so, and why he chose Ghost. https://www.platformer.news/ ...
This is how you write about leaving a platform without the reactionary moral superiority that mirrors so much right wing posturing: https://www.platformer.news/ ...
Newton stressed that it wasn't simply a handful of Nazi newsletters that made him leave. Platfomer's analysis found dozens of far right publications advocating for the “great replacement” conspiracy theory and other violent ideologies. …
Congratulations to @caseynewton and his team for their honorable decision to leave Substack. — They are not just doing the right thing. They are demonstrating moral leadership in a field — journalism — that desperately needs more of it. — https://www.platformer.news/ ...
NEWS: One of Substack's most prominent writers is abandoning the platform over its decision not to moderate praise for Nazis and pro-Holocaust material. https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
New: Casey Newton's Platformer is leaving Substack, suggesting its recent move to ban some accounts has failed to quell a writer revolt over its tolerance of extremist content. https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ...
Reading about Platformer leaving Substack after sending the company examples of Nazis hosted on the service and the company tried to discredit them about making a mountain out of a molehill. So odd to see Substack ban porn yet go to the mat for Nazis. https://www.platformer.news/…
New: Casey Newton's Platformer is leaving Substack, suggesting its recent move to ban some accounts has failed to quell a writer revolt over its tolerance of extremist content. https://www.washingtonpost.com/ ... w/ @TaylorLorenz