This isn’t new news as such, but people keep being surprised by it, so it’s worth repeating.
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This isn’t new news as such, but people keep being surprised by it, so it’s worth repeating. Substack hosts, profits from, and promotes explicitly Nazi content, and if you are adding value to that network, you are helping them to do so. https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/feb/07/revealed-how-substack-makes-money-from-hosting-nazi-newsletters
@ben I like that they make the headlines look like it’s some kind of revelation. But at least it’s being shred.
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This isn’t new news as such, but people keep being surprised by it, so it’s worth repeating. Substack hosts, profits from, and promotes explicitly Nazi content, and if you are adding value to that network, you are helping them to do so. https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/feb/07/revealed-how-substack-makes-money-from-hosting-nazi-newsletters
@ben I have wondered if people were being a little overdramatic about this. I will wonder no more. They aren't.
Sorry, great people on substack. I will never subscribe to your newsletter as long as you use that service.
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For people who want alternatives, Ghost is a Substack-style platform that doesn't host Nazis. Its software is free open source so you can self-host if you prefer, or use Ghost's own paid hosting service.
Ghost also has Fediverse compatibility so people can follow your Ghost blog or newsletter directly from Mastodon etc. More info at https://fedi.tips/ghost-blogs-and-newsletters-on-the-fediverse/
@FediThing @ben I think I tried it on unohost. setting it up is a bit of a strugle, it seems worth it however.
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This isn’t new news as such, but people keep being surprised by it, so it’s worth repeating. Substack hosts, profits from, and promotes explicitly Nazi content, and if you are adding value to that network, you are helping them to do so. https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/feb/07/revealed-how-substack-makes-money-from-hosting-nazi-newsletters
@ben
especially for activists, organizers, and people who want liberatory change. You aren’t starting a Revolution on Substack.
You’re funding Nazis just by being in the platform.https://www.rootschangemedia.com/substack-breaking-platformization-sharon/
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This isn’t new news as such, but people keep being surprised by it, so it’s worth repeating. Substack hosts, profits from, and promotes explicitly Nazi content, and if you are adding value to that network, you are helping them to do so. https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/feb/07/revealed-how-substack-makes-money-from-hosting-nazi-newsletters
@ben I don't have a fricking clue why people who claim to be all in for democracy and antifascism *choose* to put their information on Substack. I also don't understand why people need it proven--repeatedly--that Substack is a Nazi platform that has gotten *more* Nazi accounts since it was publicized that they hosted them. But here we are!
Good luck with the monetization, kids. (Spoiler: the scam has an expiration date, like all of the others.)
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This isn’t new news as such, but people keep being surprised by it, so it’s worth repeating. Substack hosts, profits from, and promotes explicitly Nazi content, and if you are adding value to that network, you are helping them to do so. https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/feb/07/revealed-how-substack-makes-money-from-hosting-nazi-newsletters
@ben substack posters when you tell them they explicitly support nazis: "ohh but the chicken is so good tho"
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This isn’t new news as such, but people keep being surprised by it, so it’s worth repeating. Substack hosts, profits from, and promotes explicitly Nazi content, and if you are adding value to that network, you are helping them to do so. https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/feb/07/revealed-how-substack-makes-money-from-hosting-nazi-newsletters
The word is used so much it literally has no meaning, no one gives a fuck and if you don't like it, don't read it or pay for it. In 2024 Substack claimed to have banned 5 "Nazi" blogs (whatever the fuck that means) but they didn't mention which ones and I can't find any actual information on it, so it might have been a fake PR-stunt. I would like to know what those sites actually were and see the archives to decide for myself.
But I decided from that point I would never pay for something on Substack because they either censored some sites or created a fake censorship story as some PR stunt. Both are stupid.
But personally, I want to read the books everyone else wants to burn.
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This isn’t new news as such, but people keep being surprised by it, so it’s worth repeating. Substack hosts, profits from, and promotes explicitly Nazi content, and if you are adding value to that network, you are helping them to do so. https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/feb/07/revealed-how-substack-makes-money-from-hosting-nazi-newsletters
@ben
also note their support and partnership with CBS killing and Trump quisling Bari Weiss's "The Free Press", a right wing reactionary publication.https://www.thehandbasket.co/p/substack-announcement-bari-weiss-free-press
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This isn’t new news as such, but people keep being surprised by it, so it’s worth repeating. Substack hosts, profits from, and promotes explicitly Nazi content, and if you are adding value to that network, you are helping them to do so. https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/feb/07/revealed-how-substack-makes-money-from-hosting-nazi-newsletters
@ben thank you
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This isn’t new news as such, but people keep being surprised by it, so it’s worth repeating. Substack hosts, profits from, and promotes explicitly Nazi content, and if you are adding value to that network, you are helping them to do so. https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/feb/07/revealed-how-substack-makes-money-from-hosting-nazi-newsletters
@ben might be the first time it's been documented in a national newspaper though
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@ben substack posters when you tell them they explicitly support nazis: "ohh but the chicken is so good tho"
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This isn’t new news as such, but people keep being surprised by it, so it’s worth repeating. Substack hosts, profits from, and promotes explicitly Nazi content, and if you are adding value to that network, you are helping them to do so. https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/feb/07/revealed-how-substack-makes-money-from-hosting-nazi-newsletters
@ben Not just nazis but supports/inflates member counts, perhaps even funnels money to crunchy mom influencer accounts like Jessica Reed Kraus who worked through out 2034 to get Trump elected. Background on this is insidious. She's just a tool but what mechanisms behind the scenes enabled her at substack?
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This isn’t new news as such, but people keep being surprised by it, so it’s worth repeating. Substack hosts, profits from, and promotes explicitly Nazi content, and if you are adding value to that network, you are helping them to do so. https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/feb/07/revealed-how-substack-makes-money-from-hosting-nazi-newsletters
@ben That was one of the reasons, why I left this walled garden.
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The word is used so much it literally has no meaning, no one gives a fuck and if you don't like it, don't read it or pay for it. In 2024 Substack claimed to have banned 5 "Nazi" blogs (whatever the fuck that means) but they didn't mention which ones and I can't find any actual information on it, so it might have been a fake PR-stunt. I would like to know what those sites actually were and see the archives to decide for myself.
But I decided from that point I would never pay for something on Substack because they either censored some sites or created a fake censorship story as some PR stunt. Both are stupid.
But personally, I want to read the books everyone else wants to burn.
I followed that.
Some people were publicly upset that "terfs" were "platformed" on Substack. Then lo and behold shortly after, rumors started screaming about "Nazis".
Substack took it seriously, and did an investigation and found 5 accounts with no subscribers which were white supremacist.
I took note of which accounts signed the petition to investigate the Nazis, and unsubscribed from their stacks (I'm only a free subscriber anyway). I don't need to read the gullible.
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The word is used so much it literally has no meaning, no one gives a fuck and if you don't like it, don't read it or pay for it. In 2024 Substack claimed to have banned 5 "Nazi" blogs (whatever the fuck that means) but they didn't mention which ones and I can't find any actual information on it, so it might have been a fake PR-stunt. I would like to know what those sites actually were and see the archives to decide for myself.
But I decided from that point I would never pay for something on Substack because they either censored some sites or created a fake censorship story as some PR stunt. Both are stupid.
But personally, I want to read the books everyone else wants to burn.
@djsumdog It's easy to see how it's a slippery slope to them just removing whatever they want whenever they want, but people like @ben are so used to it only being things they agree with, that they cheerlead it. We've seen what happens when the people wearing the boot stopped respecting the tongue on the laces in Minneapolis, but some people aren't able to come to the conclusion that enabling paternalistic powers-that-be can come back to hurt them, unfortunately. -
For people who want alternatives, Ghost is a Substack-style platform that doesn't host Nazis. Its software is free open source so you can self-host if you prefer, or use Ghost's own paid hosting service.
Ghost also has Fediverse compatibility so people can follow your Ghost blog or newsletter directly from Mastodon etc. More info at https://fedi.tips/ghost-blogs-and-newsletters-on-the-fediverse/
@FediThing @ben I ended up using buttondown and I like it so far! Substack is also WILDLY expensive with their massive 10% cut.
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This isn’t new news as such, but people keep being surprised by it, so it’s worth repeating. Substack hosts, profits from, and promotes explicitly Nazi content, and if you are adding value to that network, you are helping them to do so. https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/feb/07/revealed-how-substack-makes-money-from-hosting-nazi-newsletters
@ben
And even worse, it seems that my email address as I was subscribed to a feed there was given out to someone else on Substack who subscribed me to theirs, unashamedly admitting that this was how they got hold of me. I didn't know t this was a thing.
I was following Mike Elgin, Julia Doubleday, Eric Topol, Nate Bear, @erictopol etc.
Why are they on there? -
@ben might be the first time it's been documented in a national newspaper though
@mewsleah That’s probably true!
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This isn’t new news as such, but people keep being surprised by it, so it’s worth repeating. Substack hosts, profits from, and promotes explicitly Nazi content, and if you are adding value to that network, you are helping them to do so. https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/feb/07/revealed-how-substack-makes-money-from-hosting-nazi-newsletters
@molly0xfff wrote this “How I Set Up on Ghost” guide: https://www.citationneeded.news/substack-to-self-hosted-ghost/
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@ben I don't have a fricking clue why people who claim to be all in for democracy and antifascism *choose* to put their information on Substack. I also don't understand why people need it proven--repeatedly--that Substack is a Nazi platform that has gotten *more* Nazi accounts since it was publicized that they hosted them. But here we are!
Good luck with the monetization, kids. (Spoiler: the scam has an expiration date, like all of the others.)
@ben @dnkboston
One person who is an independent reporter didn't know anything about this, when I left a comment saying I was going to need to unsubscribe.
