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Jordan Peterson plans to launch alternative form of Patreon that isn't ‘susceptible to arbitrary censorship’ amid controversial account shutdowns
Ron Radom

Jordan Peterson plans to launch alternative form of Patreon that isn't ‘susceptible to arbitrary censorship’ amid controversial account shutdowns

He sure sounds serious about it, too

Worldwide phenomenon Jordan Peterson — a clinical psychologist and best-selling author — says he has plans to launch an alternative form of Patreon after several "controversial" conservative figures have lost their platforms in inexplicable account shutdowns.

Wait — who's been banned?

Some of the people Patreon has banned include Milo Yiannopoulos, who attempted to use the crowdfunding platform to plan a "magnificent 2019 comeback" tour. Patreon reportedly banned Yiannopoulos after his reported association with the Proud Boys, which Patreon says is a hate group.

The platform also banned Carl Benjamin, a conservative pundit who rails against identity politics, political correctness, and feminism. Patreon reportedly banned Benjamin for allegedly using "racial and homophobic slurs to degrade another individual."

Shortly after Patreon banned Benjamin, author and podcaster Sam Harris announced on Twitter that he was no longer going to use the platform as a result of apparent "political bias."

He wrote, "Although I don't share the politics of 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."

So what are the details of Peterson's idea?

Peterson, a staunch proponent and supporter of free speech, says he will launch an alternative to crowdfunding platform Patreon.

Peterson, who has more than 1.6 million subscribers on YouTube, made the announcement Monday along with comedian Dave Rubin.

Peterson aims to have the platform up and running "hopefully before Christmas."

After the platform banned Harris, Peterson — on Patreon — expressed his displeasure at the company's inner workings.

"Dave Rubin and I (and others) have been discussing the establishment of a Patreon-like enterprise that will not be susceptible to arbitrary censorship, and we are making progress, but these things cannot be rushed without the possibility of excess error," he explained.

In his Monday YouTube video, Peterson expounded on the announcement.

"I've been working on a system to allow authors and other people who engage publicly on intellectual issues to interact more effectively with their readers and viewers and listeners," Peterson explained.

"What we're going to try and do as fast as we possibly can is to set this system up on a subscriber model that's analogous to Patreon," he added. "It will have a bunch of additional features, which I don't want to talk about right now, and I don't want to over-promise because the system is new."

Peterson and Rubin have said that they also had lost followers after users began to revolt against Patreon over the company's decision to remove such voices from the platform.

Peterson has reportedly lost about 12 percent of his subscribers, and Rubin has lost about 22 percent of his subscribers since Nov. 30.

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