Patreon Censorship Causes Heavy Losses for Creators as Users Flee Site

Creators on crowdfunding site Patreon are reporting heavy losses in financial backers as users are fleeing the platform in protest over its censorship of political commentators, including Sargon of Akkad.

On Thursday, popular author Jordan B. Peterson declared, “I have lost about 2000 Patreons @Patreon since the debacle with Sargon of Akkad. I know [Dave Rubin] is having the same trouble.”

I have lost about 2000 Patreons @Patreon since the debacle with Sargon of Akkad. I know @RubinReport is having the same trouble. Are other Patreon creators suffering similar losses as people bail out of the platform?

— Jordan B Peterson (@jordanbpeterson) December 20, 2018

Conservative video creators 1791L also claimed to have lost “around 1/3” of its backers on Patreon, while political operative Ali Alexander claimed to have “lost 15-20%” of his “monthly revenue” due to users fleeing the platform.

Lost around 1/3.

— dietofworms.us (@1791L) December 20, 2018

I’ve lost 15-20% of my monthly revenue

— Ali Alexander (@ali) December 21, 2018

YouTuber Count Dankula allegedly lost “around half” of his backers on Patreon, and DJ Akira the Don has lost “about 25%.”

I've lost around half, roughly $600-$700

— Count Dankula🏴 (@CountDankulaTV) December 20, 2018

Lost about 25% 😤

— ★ AKIRA THE DON ★ (@akirathedon) December 20, 2018

Others who reported losses on Patreon included CRTV host Roaming Millennial, podcast Sword and Scale, Quilette editor Andy Ngo, and YouTube content creator Shamien. Sword and Scale went so far as to say they will leave the Patreon platform when a viable alternative is created.

As the fifth largest content creator on @Patreon, we do not feel the policing of speech should be part of the business model.

Looking forward to joining the alternative platform proposed by @RubinReport and @JordanBPeterson as soon as it’s launched.https://t.co/kwwUwhhHOH

— Sword & Scale (@SwordAndScale) December 18, 2018

This month, popular author Sam Harris, who was the eleventh most popular user on Patreon, closed his account in protest over the platform’s censorship of political commentators.

“As many of you know, the crowdfunding site Patreon has banned several prominent content creators from its platform. While the company insists that each was in violation of its terms of service, these recent expulsions seems more readily explained by political bias,” declared Harris in a statement this week. “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. I will be deleting my Patreon account tomorrow.”

Patreon has purged several notable conservative and libertarian accounts from its platform, including Sargon of Akkad, Robert Spencer, Lauren Southern, and Brittany Pettibone.

Despite this, Patreon has consistently allowed left-wing extremists to raise money on the site while calling for violence.

Following the exodus of users from Patreon, the company allegedly reached out to creators on the website in an effort to reassure them and make them stay.

Evidence that @patreon/@patreonsupport/@jackconte are feeling some heat. Don’t pretend that you care about me, my channel, or my patrons. You’ll delete my account the second I say a bad word. pic.twitter.com/AovfNxRs0R

— Matt Christiansen (@MLChristiansen) December 11, 2018