Twitter vs. Substack

This is a fight free speech doesn’t need. Here's hoping cooler heads prevail.

Elon Musk is again in the news, which he’s used to by now. However, many Americans probably still don’t know what Substack is. If and when that changes, the mainstream media might not be overjoyed - nor our rulers.

Even before I became a Substack author, I worried the Powers that Be at some point would target Substack for “cancellation,” no doubt labeling the platform a purveyor of the world’s greatest new (bogus) threat - “disinformation.” 

Recent developments involving Twitter highlight the fact Substack is clearly on the radar of those who’d like to see the newsletter platform disappear.

Substack is simply growing too fast and becoming too popular with people who appreciate the ability to receive uncensored news and commentary from its growing roster of independent writers. 

While Substack authors write about every subject imaginable, most of us know and appreciate the site because it allows smart and motivated authors to write about subjects that are off-limits in mainstream media newsrooms. The big “taboo” topic of the last three years is of course Covid. 

If you want the millionth regurgitation of narratives pushed by society’s authorized experts and authorities, you can read your favorite chain newspaper, corporate-owned website or TV network.

However, if you want original investigative reporting, contrarian research and commentary that dissents from the authorized narrative, you became one of Substack’s 35 million (and growing) subscribers.

Corresponding with the rapid growth of Substack was Elon Musk’s decision to acquire Twitter. 

Per his stated goal, Musk did make major changes at Twitter, changes that allowed more previously-banned authors to return to the site. 

He also apparently adjusted some of the algorithms, a change that gave provocative and important works a better chance of “going viral” and reaching more people.

The combination of a “freer” Twitter and a growing Substack populated with bold contrarian authors allowed numerous important stories to get around the “gatekeepers of the news.”

This represented THE formula for changing (or at least challenging) false or dubious narratives which, when enacted into policies, can harm billions of people.

That is, Twitter and Substack worked in tandem to expose large numbers of people to information they otherwise would never have received.

One need not be a brilliant social commentator to understand that this combination constitutes a grave threat to authoritarian organizations, institutions whose control depends on a speech environment where no serious or large entity can effectively challenge their control or block their agendas. 

For those who’ve yet to connect the dots, this is how Big Brother can actually become Big Brother.  

Disturbingly, late this week we got news that Mr. Musk has apparently blocked the function that allows the writings of Substack authors to be widely-shared on Twitter. Apparently, Musk and Twitter are concerned that a coming new feature of Substack (called “Notes”) might emerge as a serious competitor to Twitter.

As usual, Jeffrey Tucker helps frame the key issues

Why does all this matter to me (a Substack author) and to you (a Substack subscriber)?

Here I hand off to the founder of The Brownstone Institute, Jeffrey Tucker, one of the adults in the room our rulers hope have no influence on national opinion.

In a recent essay at Brownstone, Tucker points out that Substack and Twitter should work together.

The entire article is highly recommended, but these excerpts frame the key issues (emphasis added):

“Americans woke up on Good Friday 2023 – the first Easter weekend in three years that held out the possibility that it would be somewhat normal – to a grim reality on Twitter. It was consistently blocking all engagement from any post with a link to Substack ….

“This came as a devastating shock too many of our best independent writers and thinkers who have found a home on Substack. They gain followers on Twitter and post their material, which inspires subscriptions and makes it possible for them to have a life and means of support. Without that ability, many careers will be devastated. 

“…. One theory is that Elon came after Substack for rolling out a Twitter rival called Notes. That seems pretty far-fetched to me. And yet Mashable goes further to say that Twitter is actively going to war against Substack. 

“…  If this turns out to be deliberate and Elon sticks with it, the effect on chilling research, writing, and free speech will be even worse than when Elon took over Twitter. It will also seriously hurt Substack too. There are huge businesses that are thriving there. It is one of the few bright spots on the Internet today. A loss of reach here will mean the further cartelization of opinion and ideas. 

“… Over just a few months, the magic combination of Twitter and Substack have created a small zone of freedom in a media/tech system that seems otherwise 90 percent captured by industrial and government interests. With this combination, we’ve seen the rise of a powerful dissident press that offered the world some real hope that we can turn back the fascist tide. 

“… The timing itself is alarming because the very woke ADL just published a big attack on Substack with the usual litany of complaints about how the platform is enabling disinformation. 

“… The article … lists aggressively hateful sites promoting real hate and anti-Semitism. As the reader warms up to the thesis and sees the point, the article starts including merely partisan material from Libs of TikTok, then goes after poor Steve Kirsch who writes mostly entirely about vaccines, and then even includes eminent scientist Robert Malone, just so we are clear about what is going on here. 

“The attack here is entirely pointless. The reader can handle egregious sites on Substack by simply not reading or subscribing. By throwing in good scientists with absolute hate-mongers, the article only serves a censorious agenda. 

“… To be clear, many Brownstone Institute writers are included in the list of bad guys by this woke ADL so it poses a real existential threat (Author’s note: I’m a Brownstone Institute writer).

“… when government work(s) directly with social media to cast a single narrative in stone with grave consequences for science and society – it becomes a problem. 

“… This sort of government/tech collaboration is being litigated now. But you can tell just how unafraid the platforms and government of the judgement are by their current behavior. LinkedIn, Google, Facebook, and the rest, are just as captured and controlled as they always have been. 

“… Elon’s emancipation of Twitter from this machinery of control has been a true blessing for society and freedom. Together with Substack, Epoch Times, and a handful of other sites and institutions such as Brownstone, many have been given hope that the good guys will eventually prevail in this battle for free speech. 

“… If this algorithmic change is for real and not rolled back, many hopes will be dashed … Even if Elon changes his mind or it is a mere mistake, this experience should serve as a warning against all forms of information centralization. There is only one future for freedom in today’s world, and it is entirely decentralized. “

My Final Comments …

I’ve written it many times already. The creation and growth of Substack is the most important media story of the last several years.

In my opinion, Substack is more important than Twitter because it allows writers to use more than a paragraph to make their points. 

As far as I am aware, the site has never censored any writer. Every reader voluntarily subscribes; newsletter authors send our articles directly to our readers. There is no middle-man to moderate or filter content.

Substack’s excellent Reader Comment section also allows intelligent and civic-minded readers to engage in important conversations and debates and make their own important contributions.

Still, Twitter can and does play an important role in amplifying important articles and bringing many talented writers to the attention of more people. Twitter has helped Substack, but Substack has also given people more reasons to visit Twitter.

Hopefully this issue will resolve itself and Twitter and Substack can continue to work together to fight the real purveyors of disinformation in our society. 

It’s depressing but true that too many of our trusted authorities, governmental agencies, mainstream press and social media networks now comprise the real threats to democracy and freedom.

The fact tens of millions of American who believe in genuine free speech and real democracy have discovered and support Substack is a sign of much-needed hope. One also hopes Elon Musk will choose to be on the right side of history.