![]() ![]() And in November 2021, Patrick Casey, formerly a leader of white nationalist group Identity Evropa, also began actively using Substack.Ĭasey is banned by many platforms and services, including Substack’s payment provider Stripe. In October 2021, white nationalist group Europa Invicta posted excitedly that, “What we like most about Substack is that we can now communicate with you directly… Our ability to bring you more is amplified now – new and multiple types of content can be shared and accessed all from one place” (Image 3). White nationalists who have been banned from other platforms are also making a home for themselves. Image 2 – QAnon followers debate conspiracy theories in the comments section of one influencer’s Substack Major QAnon influencers Jordan Sather, Patel Patriot and Techno Fog post regularly for both free and paid subscribers, while in the comments QAnon followers engage with one another to debate and share conspiracy theories (Image 2).The Techno Fog Substack has even been cited by Tucker Carlson as a source for false claims Carlson made on air about vaccine trials in children. The QAnon conspiracy community, banned from most mainstream platforms, is developing a growing foothold on Substack. The migration of users who have been banned on other platforms to Substack appears to be playing out in other contexts as well. QAnon influencers and white nationalists on Substack This is a claim which has been repeatedly fact checked and found to be false. For just $5 a month, or the discounted annual rate of $50 per year, you will have access to all of my articles, all the time, even after they’ve been deleted from ,” he wrote.Īs an example of Mercola’s content, a recent Substack post from January 9 is headlined ‘ More Children Die from the Covid Shot than from Covid ’. “The reason I chose a paid membership platform on Substack is because it will protect all of my content from censorship. In a Substack post on January 3 2022, Mercola announced that he would be bringing his deleted content back by publishing it on the platform. ![]() In May 2021, he deleted posts on his site which promoted a range of false COVID-19 cures, including effectively inhaling bleach. Mercola is open about the fact that he is using Substack to publish content which even he himself considered too controversial to keep on his own website. Image 1 – Substack’s listing for Joseph Mercola, an influential spreader of COVID-19 misinformation While it is not clear exactly how much money Mercola is making from Substack, the platform indicates he has ‘thousands of subscribers’ paying $5 a month (Image 1). As of January 11 th, 2021 Substack’s list of top paid political newsletters features prominent COVID-19 misinformation spreaders Alex Berenson at number 6, and Steven Kirsch at number 19.Īt number 13 was Joseph Mercola, who has become infamous as one of the most influential voices spreading misinformation about COVID-19 and vaccines during the pandemic. Malone is not the only high profile anti-vaccine advocate currently building his brand – and his bank account – on Substack. The company makes revenue by taking a percentage of subscription fees. It allows anyone to publish, and gives writers the option of setting up a tiered model of subscriptions for access to premium content. Substack bills itself as a platform for independent writers. Yet there is at least one platform where Malone is still able to freely promote, and profit from, health misinformation: Substack. A coalition of over 270 medical professionals have since signed an open letter in response to the podcast episode, calling on Spotify to stop allowing the spread of misinformation. Malone has previously been banned by Twitter for spreading COVID-19 misinformation. Last week, YouTube made headlines when it took down an episode of one of the world’s most popular podcasts, the Joe Rogan Experience, over anti-vaccine misinformation promoted by Rogan’s guest, Dr Robert Malone. ![]()
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