Patreon Controversy: Since Russias invasion of Ukraine in February, governments and businesses in the West have put more restrictions on the country. But Patreons CEO, Jack Conte, is taking a different approach. The head of a large creator platform with thousands of creators in the area decided to keep the service running in Russia so that people could make money from it.
Conte said he didnt want to punish creators for a political decision they had nothing to do with. In an onstage interview with the tech podcast Dead Cat, he talked about how his company was doing.
I dont think creators should have to pay for what their authoritarian leader did wrong. I dont want to blame creative people for that, Conte said. They might not like the war, but I dont want to punish them because of where they live.
During South by Southwest, the interview took place at an event that was put on by the Newcomer newsletter and the voice-game company Volley.
Conte said that the decision might be more about what it means than what it does. Most US banks and financial services companies like Visa and Mastercard no longer work in the country, so its likely that many creators on the platform have still been affected.
During the War
During the war between Russia and Ukraine, tech companies have been a key part of the sanctions that the government has put in place. Apple, Google, and Slack have stopped providing services to Russian users in an effort to cut them off from the rest of the world. As a result, the Russian government has banned social media sites like Facebook and Instagram, saying that they spread false information.
The actions have caused a lot of debate, especially because they have hurt people and small businesses. Influencers on Instagram have said that losing access to the app has been heartbreaking. This month, many creators on OnlyFans, a site that competes with Patreon, found that their accounts had been locked. OnlyFans said that those things happened because of banking sanctions and said again that it didnt want to punish creators either.
Related:Jeopardy Host Controversy: Mayim Bialik Remarks When Matt Amodio Reaches 30 Victories
In the interview, Conte spoke out against Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, and said he didnt feel any sympathy for him.
He said that the company would punish Putin if there was a way to do so. He said that Patreon has a deeply ingrained culture of putting creators first, so his decision to keep working in Russia was not a big deal there.
He also said that the company had done what it could to help Ukraine by not charging creators in the country for their services. Conte said that there are a lot of creators from Ukraine on Patreon.
Leave a Comment