This opinion piece argues that Substack, an online platform for writers and readers, has a problem with Nazis on its site. The author notes that while some users want Substack to take steps to remove extremist content, others prefer the current system where moderation is left up to individual authors and readers. In response to this debate, Substack's co-founder Hamish McKenzie has stated that the platform will not actively moderate Nazi content. The article presents a philosophical discussion on the role of site moderators in creating an online ethos and whether it's better to allow users to self-moderate or take a more active stance against hate speech.
Written by the local model on 2026-08-24,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Substack has Nazis, because of course it does.
asserted
it → have → course
Substack is on the internet, Nazis are on the internet, and if Substack doesn’t want Nazis it has to take affirmative steps to get rid of them.
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it → want → them
Flies don’t stop coming into the house because you want them to; they stop because you get off the couch and close the screen door.
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you → stop → door
Any social media or blogging platform faces this.
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media → face → this
Substack may attract more Nazis than average because Substack has a “okay you don’t agree with me now but what if I wrote another 8,000 words about it” vibe.
uncertain
I → attract → vibe
2023 Nazis have a very “I didn’t have this insight until I read The Fountainhead for the sixth time, let me elaborate” thing going.
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thing → have → time
Say what you want about the 1939 Nazis, but at least they were occasionally terse.
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they → say → Nazis
Substack having Nazis1 is currently the subject of debate.
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having → have → debate
The Atlantic ran a piece about Substack’s “Nazi Problem” and recently a group of Substack writers wrote a group letter about it, asking Substack to get rid of the Nazis.
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group → run → Nazis
They point out, correctly, that Substack authors have abandoned the platform before over its moderation choices and might again.
uncertain
authors → point → choices
On the other side, a bunch of Substack users offered a group letter saying they don’t want Substack to made content choices; they like a system where each writer and reader makes their own moderation choices.
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writer → offer → choices
Substack’s co-founder Hamish McKenzie has now responded with a post confirming that it’s not going to moderate Nazis.
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it → respond → Nazis
So that seems to resolve that.
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that → seem → that
As a writer and reader, I decide what’s important to me when I choose a site.
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I → decide → site
Sometimes it’s about content I want to consume or avoid and fellow-travelers whose society I crave or despise.
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I → ’ → society
But sometimes it’s an ethos I want to endorse, or be seen as endorsing.
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I → ’ → ?
Do I want to go on Twitter to signify that I am not a snowflake and that I am open to discussions of how the Jews created polio?
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Jews → want → polio
Do I want to go on Mastodon to signify that I believe human perfection can be achieved through scolding?
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perfection → want → scolding
Do I want to go on LinkedIn and talk exclusively to people who hope to monetize my existence in their quest to be Deputy Assistant Regional Manager?
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who → want → quest
Do I really only care if the app works on an iPad?
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app → care → iPad
It’s up to me and my array of values.
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It → ’ → values
Site managers make choices too.
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managers → make → choices
What ethos do we want to signal, and what crowd will that attract, and how much money can we make from them?
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we → want → them
If we moderate content, will it turn into an expensive, thankless, all-consuming task?
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it → moderate → task
Will moderating some people (like Nazis) result in constant demands that we moderate a huge array of things that make people angry (like, say, posts that are either too supportive or not supportive enough of Palestinians)?
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that → moderate → Palestinians
Will it attract more people than it alienates?
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it → attract → people
If we don’t moderate will the place turn into a notorious sewer?
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place → moderate → sewer
What’s our moderation brand?
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brand → ’ → ?
That’s what Substack is up to: branding.
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Substack → ’ → what
They’re betting they attract more people than they repel with the “we don’t believe in Big Tech choosing what you can write or read” brand.
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you → bet → brand
They’re betting that the “we are the intellectual and moral superiors to the woke left” brand is profitable — and it is.
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it → bet → left
They calculate that getting involved in constant disputes over what content is acceptable on their site would be a big waste of time and money and focus.
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content → calculate → time
Maybe they’re thinking that the Overton Window has shifted such that a substantial portion of mainstream American thought is kind of Nazi these days and that they can’t afford to lose that market.
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they → think → market
As a matter of marketing, they’re not.
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they → ’re → marketing
The “we’re the noble defenders of civilization, upholding free thought from the onslaught of the woke hordes” sells these days.
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’re → ’re → hordes
It sells even when free thought is actually under more profound assault from cynical and powerful and absolutely not woke forces.
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thought → sell → forces
It sells even though — as I will get to in a minute — there’s a difference between tolerance and platforming.
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I → sell → tolerance
They’re also not wrong to the extent they think that critics will never be satisfied and that getting into the business of moderating content is expensive and never-ending.
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getting → ’re → content
It’s notable that the critics of Substack’s “Nazi problem” do not offer a specific definition of what content they’d moderate.
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they → ’ → content
It’s a know-it-if-you-see-it type of thing.
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you → ’ → thing
…and 102 more, not listed.
