Elon Musk goes to war against Substack

Elon Musk has retaliated against Substack for the launch of its new feature called Notes, which he views as a competitive product to Twitter. Notes launched in beta mode last night. In introducing this product earlier this week, Substack reminded its readers of why it launched the platform in 2017 in the first place:

We were dismayed with the clickbait and content farms, the listicles and liars, the cheap outrage and culture wars. We thought there could be something better if writers and readers were given more control and treated as a higher priority than advertisers, and if culture makers could find financial dignity without needing to sublimate themselves to attention games and corporate marketing budgets.

So we set about building a system that fosters deep connection and quality over shallow engagement and dopamine hacks. We turned away from advertising and the attention economy and toward subscriptions and direct relationships. We believed that something beautiful could emerge from marrying the internet’s powers with a business model that puts writers and readers in charge, that rewards great work with money, and that protects the free press and free speech. We came to believe that this model — a subscription network — could form the basis of a new economic engine for culture.

I was — and continue to be — totally aligned with the Substack mission, and that’s why I chose to use the platform for my writing when I launched The Warning in July 2022. With a very large following on Twitter, Twitter has been an instrumental tool in growing The Warning community, which is 100% reader-supported.

Beginning today, Substack writers, including me, are no longer able to use Twitter to create awareness of our platforms, as well as to grow our audiences. When you click on the link in my latest Tweet, featuring my conversation earlier this week with Tim Ryan, a warning appears that states that “this link may be unsafe,” which, of course, it isn’t.

This is a very aggressive move by Elon Musk, and it certainly flies in the face of his claims of being a “free speech absolutist” — a convenient claim until his own business ventures may be negatively impacted by competition.

Until this situation is resolved (if it is even resolved), I would ask you to please consider:

1. Upgrading to a paid subscription if you’re currently a free subscriber

2. Gifting a paid subscription to those who may enjoy The Warning and its community

3. Sharing my essays and video commentaries with your social networks to continue to grow and sustain The Warning — as well as doing so for other writers whom you support and admire

Thank you, as always, for your support. I am deeply grateful for all of you in The Warning community.

Steve