Thoughts on deplatforming

Should content hosts drive malevolent actors underground?

Substack has a fascist problem. Substack also has a disinformation problem. But so does the rest of the Internet. This reflects the human condition as a whole. It is often a very ugly thing. I do not see a benefit to sweeping that ugliness under the rug, or driving it into dark corners where our very worst qualities and tendencies can be ignored and forgotten.

Bans and boycotts don’t change the culture. Shining a spotlight on hate speech and disinformation, and calling out the bad actors who produce those products.

Elle Griffin and others agree with my position. They argue against the platform itself moderating content.

Because we’ve seen that before and it hasn’t worked. Other social media platforms have actively given reach to an enormous amount of divisive content, and moderation has amounted to private companies deciding who to deplatform based on their own agenda. Facebook has struggled with hate speech and misinformation no matter what it has tried with its moderation policies, and…