This isn’t new news as such, but people keep being surprised by it, so it’s worth repeating.
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@FediThing @ben I think I tried it on unohost. setting it up is a bit of a strugle, it seems worth it however.
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@notyourfanboy That's incredible to me. It's pretty well-publicized, and isn't a journalist supposed to be up on the latest news? @ben
@ben @dnkboston
Let me rephrase that.A journalist, who I'm sure doesn't make a living at it, who covers injustice in prisons in their State, who posts once or twice a month to their substack account hadn't heard about the platform hosting Nazis.
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This isn’t new news as such, but people keep being surprised by it, so it’s worth repeating. Substack hosts, profits from, and promotes explicitly Nazi content, and if you are adding value to that network, you are helping them to do so. https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/feb/07/revealed-how-substack-makes-money-from-hosting-nazi-newsletters
@ben I wonder what @MikeElgan thinks. He's still so bullish on Substack.
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This isn’t new news as such, but people keep being surprised by it, so it’s worth repeating. Substack hosts, profits from, and promotes explicitly Nazi content, and if you are adding value to that network, you are helping them to do so. https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/feb/07/revealed-how-substack-makes-money-from-hosting-nazi-newsletters
@ben This is the main reason why I don't pay for more subscriptions to Journalists that I want to support! They're on Substack. @MikeElgan is one of them. If he moved from Substack to Ghost, Beehiiv, I'd sub right away.
Hear that Mike!
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@FediThing @miekeroth @ben
As I always note when this comes up, @JuliusGoat made the switch to ghost from substack and wrote about it here -
@ben @dnkboston
Let me rephrase that.A journalist, who I'm sure doesn't make a living at it, who covers injustice in prisons in their State, who posts once or twice a month to their substack account hadn't heard about the platform hosting Nazis.
@notyourfanboy But still.
I always assume people should know what I do because I'm really not *that* well-informed. Nothing I know is a secret, I have no access to insider information on anything. So if I know about it, a journalist should, too. I feel comfortable saying that.
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This isn’t new news as such, but people keep being surprised by it, so it’s worth repeating. Substack hosts, profits from, and promotes explicitly Nazi content, and if you are adding value to that network, you are helping them to do so. https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/feb/07/revealed-how-substack-makes-money-from-hosting-nazi-newsletters
@ben Substack also, when Musk had just bought Twitter, posted that "anyone who has a problem with Musk's fight for free speech" need not apply for a job with them. They've made it quite clear where they stand.
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This isn’t new news as such, but people keep being surprised by it, so it’s worth repeating. Substack hosts, profits from, and promotes explicitly Nazi content, and if you are adding value to that network, you are helping them to do so. https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/feb/07/revealed-how-substack-makes-money-from-hosting-nazi-newsletters
@ben Oh it’s very well documented. I’ve catalog most of them here, but I’ve got many more to add https://sightlessscribbles.com/posts/20250425/
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For people who want alternatives, Ghost is a Substack-style platform that doesn't host Nazis. It's free and open source, so you can self-host if you prefer or use Ghost's own hosting service.
Ghost also has Fediverse compatibility so people can follow your Ghost blog or newsletter directly from Mastodon etc. More info at https://fedi.tips/ghost-blogs-and-newsletters-on-the-fediverse/
@FediThing @ben WordPress is much easier, and there are thousands of people who can help you with it, plus thousands of themes.
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For people who want alternatives, Ghost is a Substack-style platform that doesn't host Nazis. It's free and open source, so you can self-host if you prefer or use Ghost's own hosting service.
Ghost also has Fediverse compatibility so people can follow your Ghost blog or newsletter directly from Mastodon etc. More info at https://fedi.tips/ghost-blogs-and-newsletters-on-the-fediverse/
@FediThing @tchambers @ben Ghost has still serious #accessibility issues. So, I have another alternative @buttondown which is not decentralized. But currently I'm even trying the email subscription of @writefreely - which can be self-hosted. Then, depends on how "sophisticated" needs users have.
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@FediThing @tchambers @ben Ghost has still serious #accessibility issues. So, I have another alternative @buttondown which is not decentralized. But currently I'm even trying the email subscription of @writefreely - which can be self-hosted. Then, depends on how "sophisticated" needs users have.
@elettrona @FediThing @tchambers @ben @buttondown @writefreely
Those are both registered in the US though, while Ghost's non-profit is registered in Singapore.
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This isn’t new news as such, but people keep being surprised by it, so it’s worth repeating. Substack hosts, profits from, and promotes explicitly Nazi content, and if you are adding value to that network, you are helping them to do so. https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/feb/07/revealed-how-substack-makes-money-from-hosting-nazi-newsletters
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@FediThing @miekeroth @ben
As I always note when this comes up, @JuliusGoat made the switch to ghost from substack and wrote about it here@kims @FediThing @ben @JuliusGoat thanks! Going read that
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@elettrona @FediThing @tchambers @ben @buttondown @writefreely
Those are both registered in the US though, while Ghost's non-profit is registered in Singapore.
@kerfuffle @FediThing @tchambers @ben @buttondown @writefreely yes I know - ButtonDown is in the US. And centralized. That's why I'm going to try alternatives. I can't use ghost (tried to self-host it with no accessibility result) and now I'm self-hosting writefreely, while I'll try email subscriptions
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This isn’t new news as such, but people keep being surprised by it, so it’s worth repeating. Substack hosts, profits from, and promotes explicitly Nazi content, and if you are adding value to that network, you are helping them to do so. https://www.theguardian.com/media/2026/feb/07/revealed-how-substack-makes-money-from-hosting-nazi-newsletters
@ben Thanks for your comments and the link! I've just written to someone whose work I'd love to support — if it were on a different platform — and pointed them to the Guardian piece.
I don't have much faith that it will help, but it can't hurt to ask him to please move.
