TECHNOLOGY

Tech Bros Are the Reason We Can’t Have Nice Things

On today’s technology platforms, you can run from Nazis and white supremacists, but you can’t hide

Credit: Seattle Met | Ryan Snook

Last December, I, and over two hundred of Substack’s publishers (i.e., its customers) signed a letter voicing our concern over the presence of Nazis and white supremacists publishing, and in some cases monetizing their newsletters on the platform.

I’m not talking about your garden variety right-wingers, but publications spewing overt racism and antisemitism, many of which featured Nazi symbology or topics such as “markets and the Jewish question.”

As Margaret Atwood, author of The Handmaid’s Tale noted at the time, the content in question was a clear violation of Substack’s terms of service.

According to a piece The Atlantic published a month earlier, Substack even shares in the profits of white supremacist and antisemitic publications with paying subscribers, which in and of itself is pretty stunning.

As a longtime publisher on Substack’s platform and an avid user of Notes, the company’s Twitter/X knockoff, I was floored by this revelation.

Tech Bro: An educated…