Substack

After The Atlantic's November 2023 reporting documented explicitly pro-Nazi newsletters on Substack, more than 200 writers signed the 'Substacks Against Nazis' open letter in December 2023 asking Substack to enforce its own content rules against Nazi publications. CEO Chris Best and co-founder Hamish McKenzie initially refused, framing Nazi content as protected speech and saying removal would not make hate disappear. On January 8, 2024 Substack reversed course and removed five explicitly Nazi-affiliated publications while leaving others online. Major newsletters including Casey Newton's Platformer departed the platform in protest.

Substack has consistently maintained a 10% subscription-fee revenue model with no ad-targeting or behavioural ad systems, preserving direct creator-to-subscriber relationships and email portability. The model has been credited by writers including journalists transitioning out of traditional media with restoring viable independent reporting economics, while critics including The Atlantic argue the model concentrates writer compensation at the top. Substack publicly rejected ad-supported pivots throughout 2022-2025 funding rounds despite VC pressure.