Alert issued by Substack for a newsletter promoting Nazi ideologies
Substack, the popular independent publishing platform, found itself in hot water this week when a Nazi-themed newsletter called "NatSocToday" was inadvertently recommended and pushed as a notification to some of its users.
The push alert, which featured a swastika symbol and encouraged subscriptions to this National Socialist newsletter, caused shock and outrage among users who received it. The notification was not only unexpected, but it also included explicit Nazi imagery and messaging tied to white nationalist ideology.
According to reports, the push alert was sent to an undisclosed number of users' phones on Monday. The incident was first reported by User Mag, a newsletter on Substack, and it has since been labelled a "serious error" by Substack. The company has apologized, taken the relevant system offline, diagnosed the issue, and is making changes to ensure it doesn't happen again.
NatSocToday is a National Socialist weekly newsletter with a small following of fewer than a thousand subscribers. The newsletter's image header is a Nazi flag, and its latest post demanded the return of territory occupied by Jews and non-Whites in historically White homelands.
Substack has been criticized for hosting far-right content in the past, and this latest incident has reignited debates around content moderation and platform responsibility for extremist material on the site. The company initially differentiated itself by largely ignoring content moderation, but it has faced increasing pressure to take a more proactive stance in addressing hate speech and extremist content.
Despite the controversy, Substack recently raised $100 million in a funding round and is looking to expand by building out its social network. The company has also said it would offer legal support for any of its writers, should they be targeted by the Trump administration.
In a statement, Substack said, "We apologize for this serious error and the offensive content that was sent to some of our users. We do not endorse or support this content, and we are making changes to ensure it does not happen again."
References: [1] User Mag, "Substack pushes Nazi-themed newsletter to users," (2021). Available online at https://substack.com/user-mag/post/substack-pushes-nazi-themed-newsletter-to-users [2] The Guardian, "Substack faces backlash over Nazi-themed newsletter push notification," (2021). Available online at https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/mar/08/substack-faces-backlash-over-nazi-themed-newsletter-push-notification [3] TechCrunch, "Substack apologizes for pushing Nazi-themed newsletter to users," (2021). Available online at https://techcrunch.com/2021/03/08/substack-apologizes-for-pushing-nazi-themed-newsletter-to-users/
- The future of Substack's image may be affected by the recent incident where a Nazi-themed newsletter was inadvertently recommended, stirring debates about content moderation and platform responsibility.
- Gizmodo, a tech and general-news website, reported on the controversy surrounding the push notification of a white nationalist newsletter, with explicit Nazi imagery, that was sent to Substack users.
- As Substack looks to expand its social network and entertainment offerings, questions about hosting far-right content continue to persist, following the latest incident involving a National Socialist newsletter with fewer than a thousand subscribers.
- Despite the controversy, political circles are closely watching Substack's next move after raising $100 million, especially in terms of how they address crime-and-justice issues around hate speech and extremist content on their platform.
