Substack has released a new announcement inviting people to send in applications, with one notable exception, however, that being any of the Twitter employees that were disgruntled by “Elon Musk pushing for less regulated speech.”
Recently, Elon Musk took the title of the largest shareholder for Twitter in the wake of a purchase of a 9.2% stack in the social media titan. He has previously promised to “make significant improvements to Twitter” and has issued polls to his followers about whether or not Twitter “rigorously adheres” to the principles of free speech.
Throughout all of that, the vice president of communications for Substack — a platform that handles and supports subscription newsletters–, Lulu Cheng Meservey told the angry employees of Twitter to not even attempt to apply if they were worried about Musk’s reforms.
“Substack is hiring! If you’re a Twitter employee who’s considering resigning because you’re worried about Elon Musk pushing for less regulated speech… please do not come work here,” she tweeted. “But for everybody else, we really are hiring! Join a talented, determined, passionate, motley team of all backgrounds and beliefs. We debate respectfully, execute maniacally, and live to serve writers and podcasters.”
Substack is hiring!
If you’re a Twitter employee who’s considering resigning because you’re worried about Elon Musk pushing for less regulated speech… please do not come work here.
— Lulu Cheng Meservey (@lulumeservey) April 5, 2022
“It was a lighthearted poke at Twitter, but of course we welcome applicants from all backgrounds and with a wide range of beliefs and opinions, because diversity is strength,” stated Meservey in a release. “But working at Substack only makes sense if you support the ideas relating to our core mission, including that what you read matters, that writers do important work and deserve to be paid well for it, and that healthy discourse needs to allow for respectful disagreement. If that’s you please check out Substack.com/jobs!”
Earlier this year, Meservey stated that Substack is devoted to “defending free expression, even for stuff we personally dislike or disagree with.” She also expressed a desire for “a thriving ecosystem full of fresh and diverse ideas.”
Substack is hiring!
If you’re a Twitter employee who’s considering resigning because you’re worried about Elon Musk pushing for less regulated speech… please do not come work here.
— Lulu Cheng Meservey (@lulumeservey) April 5, 2022
Elon Musk’s acquisition of the title of the largest shareholder in Twitter seems to be at least partially caused by the censorship from the company. As stated by Seth Dillion, the CEO of Babylon Bee, Musk spoke with the Christian satire site, which was banned from Twitter over an article that made a joke that named Health and Human Services Assistant Secretary Rachel Levine as “Man of the Year,” just before making his purchase.
“Musk reached out to us before he polled his followers about Twitter’s commitment to free speech,” stated Dillon. “He wanted to confirm that we had, in fact, been suspended. He even mused on that call that he might need to buy Twitter. Now he’s the largest shareholder and has a seat on the board.”
As of writing, Twitter has outright refused to go back on its decision to ban out the account for The Babylon Bee. As stated by Dillon, the company wrote: “Our support team has determined that a violation did take place, and therefore we will not overturn our decision.”