I wasn't aware of this. And I spend a decent amount of time on the site. I publish there myself, and I follow a good number of writers there. I initially went because of the promise to allow free speech on topics that had been actively censored on other social-media platforms, and I have stayed because of that free speech, but also because of the quality of discourse there. It tends to be much more civil and thoughtful than on other platforms.

But now I am told, by one Jonathan Katz of the Atlantic, that there is a "Nazi problem" on the platform that I should be concerned about. I've also been asked to sign on to a letter condemning, not only the Nazis themselves (apparently there are 16 of them), but Substack management, for "platforming and monetizing" these folks.

So here's my message to Jonathan Katz and all the others who are concerned about the freedom of some people to express noxious and offensive views on Substack. This is my heartfelt message to them, and I mean it with all the respect and goodwill I can muster:

Go to Hell.

Your self-righteous whingeing might have been tolerable four years ago. It no longer is. And it is becoming increasingly difficult to see it as the product of an innocent concern for respectful and civilized online communities.

WHAT JUST HAPPENED

So let's back up a little.

We have just lived through one of the most devastating examples in recent human history of why censorship is not merely morally wrong, but quite literally deadly.

Here's El Gato Malo (who was banned from Twitter back in January of 2021, with no reason given) doing a very good job of explaining how the state and its cronies were able to strong-arm social-media companies into censoring speech on their platforms:

"private companies should be free to make their own choices about speech, publication, amplification, etc. i really, truly believe this and that any other path or practice leads to greater mischief. it is always worse to have the state tell you what you can and cannot say and a free market will always route around the limitations created by individual actors within it. that's what markets do. it's as inevitable as sunrise.