Open Letter to SubStack CEO Chris Best regarding Ken Klippenstein and the Artist Formerly Known as Twitter
The Power of Silent Statements
I don’t know how I feel about this.
My initial thought when I read this Note was that it’s dangerous for the CEO of a company to publicly express how a competitor should run their business. That’s overreach. And, if your lobbying is successful, you’ll want to exercise this kind of power again when expedient.
As for the specifics of the case, I agree that
has a right to say what he wants to say. Whether he engaged in doxing or not, I am uncertain, especially since Vance’s home address and Social Security Number are easily obtained through other means. (Of course, publishing Personally Identifiable Information [PII] is, at the very least, an ethical dilemma if not, in fact, a criminal act1.)You run a competitive service and have allowed
to stay on your platform. I think this alone should serve as your statement as CEO, perhaps with a short explanation to the effect of: “SubStack supports ’s right to free speech, and we see no reason to suspend his account at this time”.I think of the line from Ridley Scott’s Kingdom of Heaven: “A king does not kill a king.” I also think of how Queen Elizabeth had to learn how to keep her personal opinions to herself and publicly appear neutral.
As a private citizen and a human being, of course you’re entitled to whatever opinion you wish to hold. And it’s your duty as a private citizen to speak out when you see injustice. But public action must be tempered with your position as figurehead of a public, competitive company on your rival’s internal actions.
It's crucial to maintain the delicate balance between personal opinions and professional responsibilities. Actions speak louder than words. You’ve chosen to continue to platform
: let your actions do the talking.Avoid unnecessary controversy or potential conflicts of interests.
Social Security Numbers were only supposed to identify persons with the Social Security Administration, not become a national identity in all but name only.
From ssa.gov:
At its inception, the SSN's only purpose was to uniquely identify U.S. workers, enabling employers to submit accurate reports of covered earnings for use in administering benefits under the new Social Security program.
Given the widespread nature of SSNs, it’s a wonder that they aren’t leaked more often and directly tied to the person they identify.