Political commentator Dave Rubin and psychologist Jordan Peterson have become the latest in a line of Internet celebrities to declare their independence from the crowdfunding site Patreon, after Patreon revealed a bizarre new “hate speech” policy that punishes artists who raise money on the site if they engage in “hate speech,” even on other platforms.
Rubin and Peterson announced their decision on an episode of The Rubin Report, Rubin’s YouTube video-cast earlier this week. The pair says they will leave the site officially on January 15 and may launch their own version of the online donation site for users kicked off or leaving Patreon over its policies.
The controversy with Patron started several weeks ago, when the site, which allows users to create their own accounts and accept free will donations for their work, booted Carl Benjamin (better known as the wildly popular Internet personality Sargon of Akkad).
In an interview with The New York Times, Patreon attempted to explain its de-platforming of Benjamin, arguing that its “hate speech” policies allowed it to kick off any user caught making “serious attacks, or even negative generalizations, of people based on their race [and] sexual orientation.” Representatives from Patreon claim they received complaints about Benjamin using the “n-word” and making racially charged and anti-gay remarks. – READ MORE