Can Substack rise above the controversies?
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Substack → rise → controversies
New features and content moderation controversies cause many users to question Substack's original promise
In early June, bestselling Canadian author Naomi Klein launched a Substack.
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Klein → cause → Substack
In announcing it on Instagram, Klein said, "I don't really post on Twitter [X] anymore because of fascism and I can't really get the full grasp of Instagram."
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I → announce → Instagram
She presented Substack, a blogging and newsletter platform, as a way to simultaneously stay current and step away from the chaos that often prevails online.
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that → present → chaos
Many on the internet were quick to correct her.
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Many → correct → her
"Writers of good conscience should not be building new media companies on the back of a platform that opportunistically coddles white supremacy," U.S. tech reporter Karl Bode wrote in an article questioning Klein's decision to join Substack.
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Bode → build → Substack
Klein did not respond to CBC News's requests for comment, but in a recent conversation with standup comedian and podcaster W. Kamau Bell, she said she had experienced "a really, really lovely welcome" on Substack.
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she → respond → Substack
Substack has become a powerful economic engine for many independent writers and journalists, a place where they can make money telling unique stories that might not have a home at other media outlets.
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that → become → outlets
Canadians seem to have taken to it — the platform reports that Canada has become its third biggest market, following only the United States and United Kingdom.
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Canada → seem → States
In launching a Substack, Klein joins high-profile names like economist Paul Krugman, journalist Matt Taibbi and CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss, as well as author Margaret Atwood and musicians Patti Smith and Charli XCX.
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Klein → launch → chief
But over the last few years, users and journalists have noted that a number of Substack newsletters promote white supremacy, Holocaust denial and neo-Nazism.
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number → note → supremacy
An investigation by the Guardian in February found the site not only takes a cut of subscription fees paid for such content but algorithmically promotes it to users.
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site → find → users
As access to AI writing tools has grown, there’s also been concern that Substack could, like much of the internet, fill up with synthetic slop.
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Substack → grow → slop
"I've read a lot of essays on Substack that were clearly AI-generated," said Casey Newton, who co-hosts the New York Times tech podcast Hard Fork and writes the popular newsletter Platformer.
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- → read → newsletter
To address this issue, Substack recently introduced an AI detection tool called Pangram.
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Substack → address → tool
Newton told CBC News "it’s really smart" that the platform is trying to increase AI-use transparency, but says the measure speaks to a larger issue with Substack.
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measure → tell → Substack
"Do I think there's something hilarious about the fact that they're more worried about the fact that ChatGPT is on Substack than literal Nazis?
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ChatGPT → think → Nazis
A new way to publish
For the uninitiated, Substack was founded in 2017 by New Zealand journalist Hamish McKenzie and University of Waterloo graduates Chris Best and Jairaj Sethi.
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Substack → publish → Waterloo
It began as an easy way for readers to find and subscribe to email newsletters (referred to as individual Substacks), which are archived and accessed through blog-like author pages.
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which → begin → pages
Authors can activate a paid tier for their Substack, which hides certain content behind a paywall.
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which → activate → paywall
Substack hosts non-monetized newsletters at no cost to authors or subscribers and takes 10 per cent of the revenue generated by subscriptions.
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Substack → host → subscriptions
Since 2019, the Silicon Valley firm Andreessen Horowitz has helped raise more than $180 million US in venture capital for Substack, which has led to questions about outside influence.
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which → help → influence
An advocate of free speech at all costs, firm co-founder Marc Andreessen has said that "sustainable development," "social responsibility" and "tech ethics" are enemies of Andreessen Horowitz's mission.
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development → say → mission
As Substack developed and grew, the platform introduced an app and homepage that allowed users to scroll through and read newsletter posts.
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users → develop → posts
They also began to add podcasts, video content and social media-type posts called Notes.
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They → begin → podcasts
The Substack team says the new features are all geared toward user growth, but many users feel Substack's original promise — a quiet, community-oriented approach that provides a pipeline from an author's keyboard to their audience's inbox — has become too cluttered with unwanted, extraneous content.
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that → say → content
In a recent viral Note, writer Helen Roy wrote, "Substack I love you but have we reinvented doomscrolling for nerds[?]"
"All of the incentives of a platform point towards maximizing screen time," said the New York Times's Newton, noting he wouldn't be surprised if free newsletters are soon forced to carry ads.
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newsletters → write → ads
"If you talk to [Substack] today they would probably say, 'We’re not going to do any of that'....
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We → talk → that
But keep in mind, venture capitalists invest on 10-year time horizons, and Substack is, what, nine years old?"
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Substack → keep → horizons
Mark Swierszcz, the head of Canadian partnerships at Substack, says the platform is committed to a good user experience for both readers and writers.
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platform → say → readers
For example, he points out that Substack allows authors to own and, if they choose to leave, export their subscriber base.
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they → point → base
"If we were trying to lock something in," Swierszcz said, referring to writers' content, "none of this would work."
Content moderation questions
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none → try → this
Swierszcz is also firm on the issue of content moderation, arguing that Substack's refusal to oust extremists from the platform doesn't represent a hole in their values but a commitment to upholding them.
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refusal → argue → them
He echoes a 2023 Note from Substack co-founder Hamish McKenzie, in which he wrote, "I just want to make it clear that we don't like Nazis either ...
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we → echo → Nazis
But given that, we don't think that censorship (including through demonetizing publications) makes the problem go away — in fact, it makes it worse."
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it → give → fact
Swierszcz said journalists "come to us and they say, ‘We want to be on Substack because we know there won't be any moderation, there won’t be any thumbs on the scales, and we want direct relationships with our audiences …
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we → say → audiences
It's a feature that we're very proud of that actually brings more people to our platform than it pushes away."
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it → bring → platform
Newton was one of the creators the platform pushed away.
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platform → push → creators
In 2024, he and his team at Platformer highlighted six neo-Nazi accounts on Substack.
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he → highlight → Substack
The platform ended up banning five of them for direct violations of user guidelines, but when Substack wouldn't respond to user pressure to alter its moderation policies, Newton took Platformer to rival newsletter and blog site Ghost.
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Newton → end → Ghost
…and 13 more, not listed.
