A website that provides a platform for neo-Nazis got its seed funding from Boston elites

News@lemmy.world – 261 points – 1 months ago

A website that provides a platform for neo-Nazis got its seed funding from Boston elites

David Duke, former grand wizard of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, frequently posts videos on a website called Odysee. Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones also streams his podcast, “The Alex Jones Show,” on the site. It works a lot like YouTube and attracts millions of views each month.

Anti-hate groups say the site is a hotbed of extremism where users from around the world — including promoters of U.S.-designated terrorist group the Nordic Resistance Movement, Holocaust deniers and Proud Boys supporters — use Odysee’s data storage and financial features to spread their views and raise money. Users also take advantage of the forum’s near complete lack of content moderation. The site’s CEO said he’s dedicated to keeping the company “censorship resistant.”

The site also comes with strong New England ties. Odysee was created by a now-defunct New Hampshire cryptocurrency company and began with seed money from a downtown Boston-based venture capital firm called Pillar VC, financed by a diverse constellation of local investors.

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GBH News could not reach Odysee’s current leadership for comment on this story. Kauffman responded with a one-line email comment last week.

**“Every so-called journalist at GBH Boston is as evil as a reporter for Pravda, and a proper society would deport, jail, or execute them,” he wrote.****

Kauffman has been criticized for now deleted tweets about murdering trans people. He is also a leader of the Mises Caucus, a national group of Libertarians who the Southern Poverty Law Center says are colluding with far-right leaders to gain political power nationwide.

“High-profile MC members espouse hateful rhetoric and collaborate with white nationalists,’’ the Southern Poverty Law Center wrote in a 2022 blog post.

Kauffman most recently made headlines after being connected to a New Hampshire Libertarian Party online post, saying, “Anyone who murders Kamala Harris would be an American hero.” Kauffman posted a video on X showing how he berated federal authorities who came to his house to ask about the post, while claiming nothing unlawful had occurred.>

Ooooooh, thats why they did this one sided hit piece. And just to be clear FUCK KAUFFMAN!!!

LBRY shuts down, but Odysee lives on Kauffman’s company LBRY shut its doors in 2023 after a federal judge ruled in favor of the SEC. But despite LBRY’s closure, Odysee has thrived. More than 40 million visits were recorded at the site between April 2024 and June 2024, according to SimilarWeb, a company that monitors online traffic.

In June, Sam Williams, the founder of another blockchain platform called Arweave and its parent company, Forward Research, announced that he had acquired Odysee. Representatives for Williams did not respond to a request for an interview.>

So I don't get it, either big bad Kauffman is in charge of Odysee, or this new guy who acquired it is? What, no bad things you could say about him so you went to Kauffman knowing you would likely get an unhinged quote after his company Lbry died after the SEC ruling?

Something they they don't get is that censorship resistant to the right, Alt-right. Neo-Nazis, and so on is also censorship resistant the Left, far-left, Marxists, Socialists, and other people. Now if you find that they aren't doing that, then maybe your story has a basis. The vast majority of creators on there are at most small C conservatives and most don't even espouse an opinion.>>

So why's the majority of the recommended videos, channels and comments on LBRY about loving Hitler, how Jews are secretly running the world, and how LGBTQ+ people are degenerates that should be rounded up and put in camps? I got about halfway down the first page of results when I realized I was pretty much blocking 2 out of 3 channels and decided it wasn't worth the effort.

I don't know what to tell you... that is not what I see. Maybe because I am Canadian? I don't know.