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Substack’s problem with racists

The publishing platform has become a major source of income for the far right

16 Oct. 2024

Both Aporia Magazine and Edward Dutton use Substack, the blogging platform, to publish their articles and podcasts. On its list of the most popular science publications, Aporia is ranked 18th and Dutton 9th. Together, their combined annual revenue was $91,400 in November 2023, when our undercover reporter met with managers of both websites. Using subscriber information and today’s figures, we estimate that number to be approximately $188,000.

Substack’s paywall feature allows Dutton’s publication, The Jolly Heretic, to make significant revenue as well as publish more extreme content that he is unable to run elsewhere. In May 2024, Dutton revealed a trailer to 1492, a documentary about Muslim rule in medieval Europe on YouTube. The description of the trailer directs the viewer to Dutton’s Substack where, for a fee, they can watch the full documentary. “The full film is a bit too spicy for YouTube,” he writes. In the movie, Dutton compares the Arab conquest of Spain in the 700s to modern Muslim immigration to Europe.

Substack has previously come under scrutiny for platforming far-right influencers. An Atlantic article from 2023 titled “Substack Has a Nazi Problem” identified 16 Substack publications that used Nazi symbols. It prompted Substack’s co-founder Hamish McKenzie to respond that “we don’t like Nazis either”. He added: “We don’t think that censorship (including through demonetizing publications) makes the problem go away — in fact, it makes it worse.” Substack continues to host other racist publications, including the pseudonymous British far-right activist Morgoth.

McKenzie has also himself accommodated far-right activists. On his own podcast, hosted on Substack, he interviewed Richard Hanania in June 2023, discussing the theme of “wokeness”. Hanania has himself received funding from Andrew Conru and has been in contact with Matthew Frost of Aporia, and in turn was interviewed on its podcast. Hanania also has a history of posting racist comments online. In May 2023, Hanania posted on X/Twitter: “We need more policing, incarceration, and surveillance of black people.”