Filming a New Doc In Hot Springs This Weekend (Video Update) And Substack Removes Some Nazi Content
Hot Springs documentary film update and Substack addresses the Nazi problem
This is a two-fer post. Here is a video update of my time here in Hot Springs. Below the video is an update on the Substack controversy that makes me much more comfortable returning to it. First, here is the video update:
Now… about Substack’s Nazi problem:
Substack is removing some publications that express support for Nazis, the company said today. The company said this did not represent a reversal of its previous stance, but rather the result of reconsidering how it interprets its existing policies.
As part of the move, the company is also terminating the accounts of several publications that endorse Nazi ideology and that Platformer flagged to the company for review last week.
The company will not change the text of its content policy, it says, and its new policy interpretation will not include proactively removing content related to neo-Nazis and far-right extremism. But Substack will continue to remove any material that includes “credible threats of physical harm,” it said.
In a statement, Substack’s co-founders told Platformer:
If and when we become aware of other content that violates our guidelines, we will take appropriate action.
Relatedly, we’ve heard your feedback about Substack’s content moderation approach, and we understand your concerns and those of some other writers on the platform. We sincerely regret how this controversy has affected writers on Substack.
We appreciate the input from everyone. Writers are the backbone of Substack and we take this feedback very seriously. We are actively working on more reporting tools that can be used to flag content that potentially violates our guidelines, and we will continue working on tools for user moderation so Substack users can set and refine the terms of their own experience on the platform.
While this is great, it’s on us to keep an eye out for the neo-nazi/nazi content to flag it if they don’t catch it before they post. But this is true on all platforms. I look forward to how they “refine the terms” of our experience on Substack.
So, I am coming back to the platform because, quite frankly, its features are awesome, and Ghost didn’t have nearly as many features. Ghost was also glitchy or broken in a few very important ways. I am glad Substack has come this far, and we will see what develops further.