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Who protects honest Substack creators from Substack?
We’re proud to back Jeff here, and to help create a world where people think twice before messing with creators on Substack.
Congratulations to Jeff Stein on the result.
Alas Chris Best, but recently, you didn’t think twice.
Your flash 21-July policy on AI detection messed with creators rather than working with them, and did so unilaterally from a position of power over their reputations, relations, incomes, livelihoods and peace of mind.
Although the concerns were legitimate, your announcement conflated AI usage with AI slop, made opt-out difficult and subject to stigma, made AI disclosure an enforcable de facto norm when it isn’t even a term of service, and deputised users to enforce it with no creators’ recourse, opening the whole platform to rivalrous sniping and witch-hunting, which is already occurring.
This PR drop doesn’t change what has just happened. It’s worth announcing, but perhaps someone else could have announced it.
When Jeff Stein reported on Pentagon health official Keith Bass, Bass sued him. Through Substack Defender, we helped secure local counsel and fight the case.
Today, Jeff won! The case was dismissed with prejudice in federal court.
Independent journalists should be free to do their work, even when powerful people dislike their reporting. We’re proud…