Two prominent members of the so-called Intellectual Dark Web are considering drastic action after popular crowdfunding platform Patreon removed a slew of conservative accounts over speech issues.
Free speech advocate Jordan Peterson and podcaster Sam Harris are striking back after Patreon removed popular YouTuber Carl Benjamin, aka Sargon of Akkad. Peterson, a clinical psychologist by trade, is brainstorming alternatives to the site while Harris deleted his account entirely.
“We’ve been engaged in lengthy series of email exchanges with all of the people in our network, and no one is happy at all with what’s been happening,” Peterson said in a videoreleased Sunday. “We’ve been determining what our options are. We looked at Subscribe Star, but it looks like PayPal decided to cut funding out from them.”
“While the company insists that each was in violation of its terms of service, these recent expulsions seem more readily explained by political bias,” Harris added. “Although I don’t share the politics of the banned members, I consider it no longer tenable to expose any part of my podcast funding to the whims of Patreon’s ‘Trust and Safety’ committee.”
Peterson, for his part, is a die-hard free speech advocate, despite having targeted some critics with lawsuits. He alleged in June that faculty at Wilfrid Laurier University defamed him when they dressed-down a teaching assistant for showing a video of Peterson debating gender-neutral pronouns with an opponent. (RELATED: Jordan Peterson Threatens To Sue Feminist Professor Who Called Him An Incel)
Peterson gained fame during the past two years partially because of his criticisms of political correctness. He has also been critical of global warming alarmism, and earlier in 2018 said “you can’t trust the data” because of the politicization in climate science.
Patreon did not immediately respond to The Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
https://dailycaller.com/2018/12/17/jordan-peterson-sam-harris-patreon/
PM sent ~ CGI
I was asked to add more to the OP. My take on the matter: I don't have a problem with Patreon de-platforming Sargon, all I see here is an opportunity for a competitors to compete with Patreon and leverage what happened to their advantage.
Hats off to Sam Harris, who had one of the top grossing-accounts on Patreon. I didn't realize Sam Harris needed an introduction, but here we go; Sam Harris is a neuroscientist, philosopher, and best-selling author, one of the few people on the left with sensible views on Islam and Muslims.
Sargon is a political commentator, listening to him I don't know if he leans left or right. He used racial slurs to insult a Nazi and Patreon decided that was enough to de-platform him. Sargon isn't a racist.
I personally have a habit of calling homophobes "gay" to their faces because it drives them mad. Am I a homophobe now?
Last edited by LurkerJ - on 20 December 2018