Substack is falling into the same traps as platforms before it: where it stands on the spectrum of free speech versus content moderation. 

This hesitance has led to a string of high-profile writers leaving the platform for alternatives. Facebook is a contender—since throwing its hat into the ring by developing tools for independent writers—despite the social network’s enduring content moderation controversies. 

At the heart of the matter is Substack’s reluctance to divulge all the details in how it courts and incentivizes new writers, especially under the new program Substack Pro.

Read Mark Stenberg’s piece detailing the industry implications of Substack’s backlash. 

Incentivizing controversial voices at all, especially those whose politics have been condemned by those in marginalized communities, is not acceptable for a number of independent writers who feel mis-sold on the platform’s ideologies. 

Prominent feminist writer Jude Ellison Sady Doyle, freelance writer Safy-Hallan Farah, Defector Media journalist Kelsey McKinney and queer writer Britni de la Cretaz and writer Alicia Kennedy are among those fleeing for alternatives. 

Substack’s editorial agenda is “not one that is in line with my thinking, and it’s dangerous,” said Kennedy. “To be associated with those names by having a Substack feels dirty.” 

Check out Mark’s piece for the details on how Substack can navigate its path ahead.

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Thanks for reading and have a great week.

Lucinda

Lucinda.southern@adweek.com

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