This is worth addressing, maybe not so much for @jbernal’s sake, but more for others in the community who might be hearing these arguments.
My response:
Racist epithets and name-calling are not the same thing. The problem with racism is not hurt feelings; racism is a system in which certain groups are routinely and widely mistreated. Racist language reinforces that system, encourages that mistreatment, and reminds its targets that they are not safe from it. It’s true that name-calling doesn’t harm anyone, but bigotry and discrimination certainly do.
Actual far-right violence exists and is on the rise. So, yes, people are getting physically hurt because of the spread of racism and racist ideologies.
Antifa is a red herring - a derailment. For one thing, they’re not even on Patreon. Also they don’t target any group based on race/gender/religion/sexuality/nationality/etc. So one may find them or their tactics deplorable, but that’s a different conversation from the one about bigotry.
@jbernal OK, I stand corrected. There is a at least one self-identified Antifa group on Patreon. I can’t speak to their involvement in or connection to any violent activities. I also don’t know what Patreon’s TOS say about supporting political violence. But if you’re concerned, I encourage you to report it directly to Patreon.
My point is that it’s a separate issue from the Sargon ban.
I mostly disagree; granted, it is nearly impossible to police all the content on the platform, but throwing stones in glass houses comes to mind.
Patreon is/was great, fantastic idea and decent source of income. BUT-- with their claims to want to fund and empower the creative class, just ONE customer lost to their politics makes their vision failed. I am nowhere near related to anything Sargon does, I never subscribed to him, and I still lost customers because of this.
I’m a Youtube Animator and I try to keep my stuff rather apolitical. But I’m actually losing Patrons now because they don’t want to support the platform and it’s “corrupt” management, as one of my former supporters put it.
I hope Patreon can come up with a compromise or something, I haven’t been paying too much attention to this, but it’s a bit of a bummer that I’m being effected now when I just make video game parodies.
How many have you lost? I’ve lost three, which is basically line noise. Overall, Patreon continues to soar upwards, so it seems pretty clear it’s just a vocal minority trying to make as big a stink as possible.
I’m sorry to hear you’ve lost a patron @jbernal, but in the scheme of things that seems pretty minor. Patrons come and go for a thousand different reasons.
But this isn’t about politics, it’s about racist and homophobic language. Who can say how many patrons might have been lost if Patreon didn’t do something about Sargon’s racist and homophobic language? Or how many creators would decide not to join Patreon because they don’t want to be associated with him or because they don’t feel safe on a platform that welcomes him?
Actively working with someone who is openly racist is as “political” as choosing not to work with that person.
I’ve seen no change to my community that I’m aware of. I just peeked at my Exit Surveys (which always makes me so anxious) and no mention there. I’ve had some turnover, but that’s normal for me. However, I’m still pretty small (less than 100 Patrons) and I think people pledging to me might be less likely to be upset about those types of issues anyway.
