Hamish, I still think this response (and Substack’s) is deeply rooted in the perspective of someone whose experience of the internet is not defined by harassment. Yes, people push back at you, and Chris, and might even base that response in your identity, but is of a substantively different character than what has become the status quo for so many people navigating these spaces — for Black people, for trans people, for Jewish people, for women, for people who are a target not because of what they say or do but just because they are a person in an online space. Substack as a company is not currently willing to acknowledge or design policies that acknowledge that its leaders’ experience of the internet is not so many of its’ users experience of the internet. You are designing and creating policy that accommodates the users who receive the least harassment and hate instead of those who receive the most. That’s worth thinking through. What does it indicate about whose experience of this platform the company prioritizes?

Apr 22, 2023
at
1:46 AM