Platformer Leaves Substack for Ghost

Hate speech and Nazis

Platformer is a popular tech newsletter founded by Casey Newton in 2020. Originally, Platformer was going to use WordPress but decided on Substack.

Platformer grew a lot on Substack, reaching over 170,000 subscribers in 3 years. Substack was controversial though because it had a hands-off approach to content moderation.

Now it's leaving Substack.

Substack Starts Promoting Its Own Network

In 2022, Substack started trying to promote its own network of newsletters. It added tools to let writers recommend other Substack writers. It also launched a Twitter-like social network called Notes.

Platformer grew a lot because of this. It got over 70,000 new free subscribers in 2023 from Substack's tools.

Concerns Over Hate Speech on Substack

In November 2023, The Atlantic published an article about Nazis using Substack. Casey assumed Substack would enforce its policy against inciting violence.

But in December, Substack said it didn't want to intervene much beyond threats of violence.

This concerned Casey …