Prominent atheist Sam Harris has deleted his Patreon account after it became clear that the crowdfunding website had been censoring certain conservative groups and individuals. Harris, who has one of the highest-grossing accounts on the website, noted that the blatant “political bias” displayed by the site’s administrators was the reason he felt compelled to close his account.
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“As many of you know Patreon has banned several prominent content creators from this platform,” Harris, who had some 9,000 paying patrons, wrote on Twitter. “While the company insists each was in violation of its terms of service, these recent expulsions seem more readily explained by political bias. 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.”
The author and neuroscientist added that he would be deleting his Patreon account tomorrow and asked that anyone who is interested in keeping should head to his website.
— Sam Harris (@SamHarrisOrg) December 17, 2018
According to Business Insider, just last week Patreon banned kicked out alt-right journalist Milo Yiannopoulos after he tried to use the platform to fund his “magnificent 2019 comeback” tour.
Just a day later, the funding site banned YouTuber Carl Benjamin, AKA “Sargon of Akkad,” who is also associated with conservative fringe groups. James Allsup, a former Students for Trump adviser, was also banned.
Patreon claims to have 100,000 creators currently active on its platform, along with two million patrons. The company projects that creators will have earned a combined amount of around $300 million over the course of 2018.