Patreon has blocked YouTuber Sargon of Akkad for dropping N bombs, calling it hate speech. Now many customers and creators are leaving Patreon even if they don't like Sargon. Turns out when it comes to people spending their money, they don't like being Patreon-ised.
Let's talk about it.
Scroll down to watch and listen to this episode of Cryptonomics
Welcome to Cryptonomics, principles of cryptocurrency and investing. Thanks to everyone sharing these videos. I saw a bunch of Steemians comment and resteem my last post - codysamuelson, drewhudson, sha0ran and rave02, thank you kindly.
So Patreon has decided to block Sargon. I don't see what the big deal is. I mean, all he did was say ...
You are acting like a bunch of n***ers, just so you know. You act like white n***ers - exactly how you describe black people acting is the impression dealing with the alt-right.
You carry on, but don't then expect me to have a debate with one of your f***ots
Maybe you're just acting like a n***er mate.
Do you think white people act like this? White people are meant to be polite and respectful to one another, and you guys can't even act like white people.
Listen to the whole interview here.
Ahhh... that's pretty bad. Yeah, he probably should get a PR coach there.
Even so, this interview is from 10 months ago, and he never posted this interview on Patreon. It seems like the staff went out of their way to get some dirt, and that's making a lot of creators on Patreon nervous. Who knows if they could find something on Twitter from 5 years back and bring down the banhammer. People suspect that it's more about Sargon's politics.
So, large payment platform restricts their services to someone politically unpopular. Where have I heard this story before...?
The Wikileaks Blockade
That's right, in 2010, the US government put pressure on payment processors such as MasterCard, Visa and Paypal to prevent donations to Wikileaks after they released thousands of documents from the US government. It would have worked too, if not for a pesky kid named Satoshi Nakamoto.
Wikileaks was blocked on all sides, needing money for server costs and probably a bunch of legal fees. They asked if the Bitcoin community might help them out. Satoshi advised against it, saying the network wasn't ready. It was less than 2 years old at that point.
‘Basically, bring it on,’ wrote one poster. Satoshi responded: “No, don’t ‘bring it on.’ The project needs to grow gradually so the software can be strengthened along the way. I make this appeal to WikiLeaks not to try to use bitcoin. Bitcoin is a small beta community in its infancy. You would not stand to get more than pocket change, and the heat you would bring would likely destroy us at this stage.
Wikileaks looked at it, waited, then six months later in June 2011 they started calling for Bitcoin donations, kept Wikileaks afloat, and reportedly made a 50,000% profit.
Independent Media Blockades
Sargon's Patreon problem is just a recent event in a long string of censorship collusion. Back in August 2018, Alex Jones and InfoWars. were banned from YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, everything, all around the same time - most on the same day.
Luke Rudkowski of We Are Change had his videos demonetised long ago, and the other day claimed that videos on other channels will get demonetised just for having him in it.
New Solutions
Now just like with Wikileaks choosing to accept Bitcoin, we're seeing independent media move towards other websites. Sargon has moved on to Patreon alternative SubscribeStar. Other pundits are looking for systems which aren't so easy to take down or witchhunt.
Sam Harris and Jordan Peterson are now accepting donations on their websites using credit cards or PayPal instead of Patreon. I just wonder how long it will be before someone in alternative media gets blocked from credit card processors.
On Peterson's site he also accepts Bitcoin, and he has put up his work on BitTube. BitTube is a YouTube alternative which pays crypto based on views. Peterson is also talking about creating a new platform for creatives, which is he says will be harder to censor.
The MasterCard Conspiracy
Jacqueline Hart, Trust & Safety officer at Patreon reached out to YouTuber Matt Christiansen to talk about the situation. Christiansen sneakily recorded and transcribed the conversation, and it was... weird.
At one point Ms. Hart said "Payment processing depends on our ability to use the global payment network, and they have rules for what they will process."
Jacqueline Hart goes back and forth between saying that they have to follow the rules of payment networks like Visa and MasterCard, and it's entirely their own decision.
Based on that and a few other facts, a YouTuber named ShortFatOtaku makes the case that the payment shut downs are initiated by MasterCard. MasterCard's plan is to promote immigration to developed nations, so they can get more customers. Imagine having a product with such a high penetration that you have to import customers! Anyone who opposes immigration is an obstacle, so MasterCard puts pressure on Patreon to shut down their funding.
Too late for MasterCard
If that's really the case, the whole thing is pretty hilarious. A stunt like that might have worked 10 years ago, but now the alternatives are too well-developed. In many ways, this is exactly the kind of scenario that Bitcoin was invented for - a peer to peer system of digital cash, that resists censorship. If two people can access Bitcoin, no political force can stop them, short of entering their homes and handcuffing them.
Assuming this is true, people still aren't going to give up their MasterCards overnight. Credit and debit cards are just too darn convenient. But in many ways, MasterCard is making themselves less useful, making people find other options and leave them behind. They're saying that customers can no longer use their service in the way they want. It would be like if Kodak knew about digital cameras and decided to only allow photos to be processed in black and white.
I have to wonder if the execs at MasterCard realising what they're doing, actively driving people away from them and towards their opposition. We're all characters on a stage, everyone has their part to play, and these actors push forward, into the next act of history.
What do you think? Is there a conspiracy to shut down independent media? How is it going to turn out for the old guard? What will payment platforms look like in a couple of years? Leave me a thoughtful comment and make my day.
If you're watching on Facebook, please subscribe on YouTube. My YouTube subscriber count could use a little love. Thanks for listening, thanks for sharing, thanks for being you.
The Episode
You can listen to the episode on Anchor and other podcasting services here: Cryptonomics - Patreon Screws Itself. Or watch on YouTube below:
Great post! This is exactly why crypto is important... Future dApps will enable decentralized patreon. Steemit is already an awesome start to decentralized reddit (Reddit has had their share of non-sense). Crypto also undermines monetary censorship and monopoly. There is no stopping this. The only vulnerabilities are the on/off ramps from fiat to crypto... And potential SHA256 collisions, going undetected for a while, which could be hard-forked
Very good read. you should check out www.yen.io the worlds first MEX Metaexchange for cryptos. I agree these large transaction based companies like Master Card and Visa have too much of the market cornered. Here we are in 2019 and Satoshi Nakamota's creastion Bitcoin is leading the world in Cryptocurrencies currently at $3600 per BTC. BTC has proven that crypto currencies are a viable vehicle for handling peer to peer transactions with the middle men or without the master cards.
If I didn't follow alternative media I would be getting most of my news from CNN and BBC while wondering what bitcoin is and who cursed it to die 10000 times.
These people are fighting the good fight whether you agree with them or not. Mastercard is interfering with freedom of press and freedom of expression. Alternatives were few, but not for long. Maybe they have a deal with the government, big corporate and big media to make it difficult for independent thinkers to get media space, and in turn banks are making it difficult for commoners to get crypto.
Good read. Too many companies trying to play "god" with their platforms and censoring speech. Do agree with the language, no, not really, but I am from the South so i grew up with it. Not saying I use it, but still Patreon is shooting themselves in the foot right along with Google, Facebook, Apple, and the rest of them that get butt hurt by a word. It's really kinda BS.
Yes. I don't think it's about the word itself. In the Jacqueline Hart transcript, she emphasises how much of it is about a person's entire body of work. Those particular comments from Sargon were just one part of their decision, or their best excuse.
So many companies are cutting off their nose to spite their face. Good for crypto.
People should be free to choose what they watch or don't watch, period. That being said, it's hard to believe that such a seemingly intelligent and articulate guy would put everything at risk with such a poor choice of words. From what he said though, "Exactly how you describe black people acting..." it sounded like he was calling out racist whites and using the N word towards them to highlight their hypocrisy. Bad idea. That word from a white mouth causes temporary deafness to everything else. Adding "And you guys can't even act like white people," made it sound even more like he was being racist. But again, he might have chosen those words because those are the words he's heard racist whites use, and was using them because he thought they would be super insulting and have maximum impact.
Still, bad choice.
Yes. I've heard him say a few times he likes to use words that shock people. I doubt he's really racist, but even if we assumed the worst, I think people blow these things out of proportion. I think many of us had grandparents who said things like this. I don't condone it, but I don't think ostracising people is going to help much either.
Really enjoyed reading through your post. Yeah It does seem "alternative media" will be moving from these large social media giants if they keep attempting to beef up censorship. This should help decentralized platforms in general. It might help more content consumers to step back and see how much of what they come in contact with is extremely filtered and curated. Spitting out more or less the same message depending on if their viewers skew left or right. Or in other regards no real message at all.
Do you know of any projects going on right now to apply the decentralized platform to podcast hosting?
Okay, okay enough ranting.
Ciao,
Murphy
Congratulations @cryptonomics1! You have completed the following achievement on the Steem blockchain and have been rewarded with new badge(s) :
Click here to view your Board
If you no longer want to receive notifications, reply to this comment with the word
STOPTo support your work, I also upvoted your post!
Guys! Tell me how to get Apatow? I'm new. And so a little do not understand the work of this service. Also if you like this comment I will be grateful! I subscribe like and repost on your wall of your post. Let's help each other.
Good
Posted using Partiko Android
This post is supported by $25.0 @tipU upvote funded by @churdtzu :)
@tipU voting service guide | For investors.
img credz: pixabay.com
Nice, you got an awesome upgoat, thanks to @churdtzu
BuildTeam wishes everyone a bullish new Year!
Want a boost? Minnowbooster's got your back!
Congratulations @cryptonomics1!
Your post was mentioned in the Steem Hit Parade in the following category:
Patreon made the right move here. This guy is a piece of trash who shouldn't be funded for what is clearly hate speech. This isn't about democracy or freedom, people like Sargon of Akkad deserve no place anywhere and I don't want them on Steemit either.
I'd say the comments are objectionable, in poor taste, maybe we can even say they're racist. But I think "hate speech" is pushing it a bit far. Can you tell me exactly which part of what he said was hate speech, and why it is?
if only steem was based on content or free speech...
What are the major obstacles to create a STeem based crowdfunding system? Development power? Price fluctuation? Already in place via Delegation?
There is a Bitcoin Patreon:
https://bitbacker.io/
looks crappy but the underlying system seems to work.
#cryptonomics1# hi today i see your post and i like it so much your work is great
Very good contribution and really interesting. Thanks for that... :-)
Greetings
Bob
That is great and good read.
First time I see a steemer actually speak on this situation. I really hope patreon goes down after this. Keep up the good work.
oh we plan on ending them. check out yen.io to see what I mean.
You earning this cryptonomics
Please answer me. I am interest
I'm not sure what your question is.
screws them back
Alot of interesting facts on how things are all imbalanced. Thanks
Be well
Posted using Partiko Android
The main objective is to join them as big companies and that contral the whole market, an excellent post
Patreon is shooting itself in the foot with all this, it will come back to bite them for sure!
Excelente great news Good read