Being on the right side of history: becoming a Ghost

It has been exactly a week since I started my own thing, and already, I have switched platforms to publish my stories. While this does not have a major impact on anyone, including my old subscribers, this is something that I feel people should be aware of, especially if you are planning on launching your own page.

This includes using platforms such as Substack. Because Substack Has a Nazi Problem. Those are not my words; it is the headline of one of The Atlantic’s pieces from November 2023, which was updated in January 2024. In July 2025, yes, July of this year (!), Substack sent out a push notification promoting a blog that had a Swastika icon on it. Ars Technica has more details, and I recommend reading the article here.

Sure, mistakes happen. I can imagine Substack is not run by a small team of young developers, where oversight might be easier when you are running operations with up to a dozen employees. As companies grow, processes might not be followed sometimes; it happens. (According to LinkedIn’s estimates, Substack has between 51 and 200 employees.)

We are all human, and our performance at work can be impacted by external factors, whether it is a lack of sleep, emotional distress, or whatever else. But your actions following a mistake are what make or break your reputation, whether you are a company or someone working inside the company.

I will break the timeline here and go back to The Atlantic’s piece from November 2023. In response to that article and the following backlash, Hamish McKenzie, the co-founder of Substack, wrote his response in December 2023, which read as follows (and this is a direct quote):

“I just want to make it clear that we don’t like Nazis either—we wish no one held those views. But some people do hold those and other extreme views. Given that, we don't think that censorship (including through demonetizing publications) makes the problem go away—in fact, it makes it worse.”

I am not a PR specialist. I have had some experience with it – including handling some bizarre questions from external stakeholders – but I always thought that whenever a company has a reputational crisis, meaning it or its employees had done something stupid, you do not double down.

And in my view, McKenzie did double down. Instead of saying that people holding extremely vile views will not be welcome on his platform, he went the ‘freedom of speech’ route. That is fine if you want to be associated with people whose whole world revolves around senseless hatred.

I do not. I do not want my revenue cut – even if it literally was $1 – to go to platforms that refrain from fully distancing themselves from people spreading hatred because of their own ignorance.

That is why I made the decision to move on from Substack just seven days later. Well, to be fair, that decision was made for me by Substack and its policies.

Though I have to say that when I began writing on Substack, I was unaware of the platform’s views or its issues. 

I have to give full credit to John Walton, who is not only a brilliant mind – if you have not, check out John’s The Up Front! – but also is a great human being, and not only for bringing my attention to this matter.

Because it does matter. Because during times like these, consuming products ethically is becoming more and more difficult, but by only working together and pointing out one’s wrongs in cases like these, it can bring some harmony to a world full of chaos and hatred. Because it matters to be on the right side of history.

Again, the change does not affect me, my subscribers, or anyone who has read or is planning to read my articles. But it does ensure that my content is on a platform that does not want to associate with, or host, Nazis.

From Ghost’s Code of Conduct:

“You shall be judged to have been a dick when a group of your peers have deemed that you were being a dick. If, after being warned, you continue to be a dick: you will be banned. There are no exceptions to this rule.”

Cheers.

p.s. This is not an advertisement for Ghost, but moreso of a warning against using specific platforms to host content on.