Mike VanDelinder
Les OrchardHoly crap, Nilay Patel just ruthlessly corners Substack’s CEO Chris Best on moderating racist content and I love it
Like, you know, it is within the realm of human possibility to just not actively build a half-abandoned combination shopping mall / conference center that lets anyone wander in and use it as a venue for complete fuckery
Like, it's not censorship to simply decline to build & hand out megaphones to absolute dipshits
This shouldn't be a difficult stand to take
Maybe, if you have a disagreeable thing to say, the very least I can do is decide not to lend you my Mr. Microphone.
Mr. Microphone By Ronco (Commercial, 1978)
Aurora Ditto@lmorchard 😃 this video cheered me up
David Erik Nelson🪬@lmorchard Dude, word. I’m just exhausted with folks wanting to reap the profits of being a publisher (such as they are) without taking responsibility for being a publisher. The notion that it makes any sense to say “I do not agree with or promote this message I am amplifying—I.e., promoting” is a distinctly modern lunacy.
Steffen Christensen@dave0 @lmorchard "I want to let our readers and writers decide this."
The answer is a resounding yes.
AP@Wikisteff @dave0 @lmorchard 2012 called - they want their wishy washy bullshit about public forums back. ...for some reason this guy doesn't want to piss off the rightwing "free speech" fuckwits who, alongside railing against censorship, enjoy banning books and outlawing Rocky Horror Picture Show
Staid Winnow
Pete@staidwinnow @dave0 @lmorchard
Liberté without égalité or fraternité.
@lmorchard failure to say no to deleting racist statements by its users exposes at least one of Substack’s real goals…money.
lori@lmorchard if you don't let me piss all over the floor of the public library is it truly public???
Steve Torrente@lmorchard [Techbro voice]: "But think of the $$$MONEY$$$ you would make tho . . ."
Peter Gibbons@lmorchard there are much worse things than mean words on the internet. Content moderation also shpuld be done (if at all) on a case by case basis since the way you phrase things and the context is important to understanding what actions might be necessary. It also seems like if you detail a specific set of conditions that will result in moderation activity in an interview context I think the result is a lot of people testing your limits. Referring people to the policy seems like an appropriate way to handle the question.
@lmorchard I just want to add that I am in no way supportive of substack, but it's the centralization aspect that bothers me
Brian Hough@lmorchard @shantini this video is DEEPLY uncomfortable to watch and makes me even more uncomfortable to ever touch the service again. My goodness.
Tony Vladusich@TonyVladusich i found it disturbing to listen to a wealthy white tech bro try to (poorly) explain away content moderation inaction regarding hate speech impacting maligned groups on his platform.
@brianhough thing is, he can't respond with his "real" answer, which is some variant of "I'm getting rich and don't really care", so he's either struck dumb or reflexively regurgitates his canned line. I personally enjoyed his evisceration, but hey, that probably says more about me these days. I have deep empathy for victims, not perps!
@TonyVladusich I didn’t enjoy anything about this interaction. It just makes me sad that this is the world we live in and the people who have power in it.
jonny (good kind)@brianhough
@TonyVladusich
exactly this - why should this person be able to make decisions like this? why do we have to be beholden to the beliefs of platform holders that aspire to be "universal" platforms rather than being able to make our own communication systems that are responsive to our needs because we have meaningful power over them?
@TonyVladusich
exactly this - why should this person be able to make decisions like this? why do we have to be beholden to the beliefs of platform holders that aspire to be "universal" platforms rather than being able to make our own communication systems that are responsive to our needs because we have meaningful power over them?
Charles Johnson@lmorchard This kind of stuff is why I’m fine with it if Substack and Twitter wipe each other out.
Jesse@lmorchard Nilay is very good at this. And Chris Best … is not.
Carlos Sierra 🌹@lmorchard that was INCREDIBLE. Don’t let this irresponsible approaches to communication go on unchecked.
Brett Elliff@lmorchard
I bet their PR team is freaking out over that interview lol!
Cyber Yuki@gatewayy @lmorchard @[email protected] 800 boosts is making this one of the most viral things I've seen in here.
There's no way for them to pretend this didn't happen.
@yuki2501
Yeah, I did not expect this to happen.
Tengrain⬆️
This is the most astonishing video I’ve ever seen of a CEO just being caught unprepared to respond to a Y/N question about racism on his platform.
Chris Alemany🇺🇦🇨🇦🇪🇸@lmorchard This is so so good. The major platform people are so TERRIFIED of moderation because they believe (Wrongly but they are not convincible) that by taking a stance against hurtful speech, they will limit their profitability.
They’re wrong.
The world has moved on.
People don’t want to be racist or hateful or even mean most of the time. So for god sakes just give us a space where we can be that!
Oh wait never mind… here it is on Mastodon!
Kev@chris @lmorchard this is true. I just wanna riff off on what you said there. I think Google Plus was axed because Google realized that content moderation was gonna overwhelm them as the platform took off. They just projected the content moderation efforts and noped out. It's another reason why major platforms are terrified of it. It's another reason they try to avoid doing it
Bob Starr@lmorchard This was fantastic and reminded me of the Medhi Hasan takedown of Matt Taibbi recently. Both excellent examples of how journalism should work across the board.
Sammy@lmorchard I’ve always thought of Nilay as a little self righteous but that was good, thorough questioning. Good for him.
@lmorchard Saying "I want their money, and it doesn't hurt me or anyone I care about" looks even worse, presumably.
suldrew 🚲🏳️🌈@lmorchard substack, not sending their best
Dan Sinker@lmorchard this is incredible
Annalee Newitz 🍜@lmorchard love to see this
Wesley Faulkner@lmorchard Damn I wish I could quote tweet this.
⁂ Fish Id Wardrobe@lmorchard They've only just gone live yesterday and NOW they're maybe thinking of this? Isn't that the sort of thing you should work out BEFORE you go live?
@fishidwardrobe move fast and break things amirite?!
Nabeel Siddiqui@lmorchard I love at the end where he is just like "What is it that stops you from just saying no?"
Alex Barredo 📉@lmorchard @marcoarment I wonder why he kept talking about freedom of speech. His company is in a business relationship with that hypothetical writer. Substack is actually profiting from that publication. It's not some random person on the street.
If you host their content, it's akin to, say, helping that person hold a banner in the street. If you're not confortable with that, don't get into the publishing biz
Talking about "freedom of the press" is just insane. Awfully handled by the CEO
@lmorchard @marcoarment Here's an update from Nilay Patel on this
This is better and answers a few more questions. The rest of the interview is also great https://www.theverge.com/23681875/substack-notes-twitter-elon-musk-content-moderation-free-speech
Diligence Jones@lmorchard OOOH, that last question!!
'...and I'm wondering what's keeping you from saying no?'
River Brandon@DeliaChristina @lmorchard The answer? “It’s the capitalism. That’s what keeps me from saying no. We can’t say no to money, and there’s money in the hate.”
@rvr @lmorchard The capitalism and the unacknowledged white supremacist socialization.
@DeliaChristina @lmorchard Yes, that too! 🙌 There’s the proper answer, and there’s the honest answer… even just the honest answer would be refreshing.
Jessamyn@rvr @DeliaChristina @lmorchard
"...and I'm wondering what's keeping you from saying no?"
"My investors mostly..."
Sean Murthy@smurthys @DeliaChristina @lmorchard and let’s not forget the racism! Wouldn’t want to leave out white supremacy! 😮💨
trisk!@lmorchard so in essence, the CEO responded, "if it was so racist, why wouldn't the people just stop paying to see it?" Did I hear that right?!
Evan Prodromou@lmorchard HFS, thank you Nilay Patel.
"Racism, misogyny, homophobia and transphobia don't have a platform on Substack" is so easy. Just say it.