Liberal Sam Harris is a man that wears many hats. He is a very popular author, philosopher, neuroscientist, critic of religion, public intellectual, and podcast host.

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He also has the 13th most popular account on Patreon.

In case you aren't familiar, Patreon is a media platform that gives business tools to artists, writers and creators and lets them run a subscription service that allows them to raise money from their supporters or "patrons."

On Sunday Sam Harris made a powerful stand while leaving the platform.

Liberal Sam Harris Takes a Stand for Free SpeechAfter the continued attack on conservative content creators, Harris left Patreon.

Barrett Wilson at The Post Millenial wrote about the issue:

Benjamin was booted from Patreon after a video surfaced of him deriding Neo-Nazis by using a racist term in an ironic way. Whatever you may think of Benjamin’s language in the video, it was not in violation of Patreon’s policies. Benjamin was well within his right to express himself, and the fact that he was deplatformed for exercising free speech as opposed to committing some kind of harmful action is problematic to say the least.

This tweet from YouTuber and writer Benjamin Boyce sums up exactly why what happened to Benjamin matters to other creators and consumers:

Patreon CEO Jack Conte went on the popular YouTube show The Rubin Report last year to assure creators that they could trust him to not punish people for their speech. In this appearance, Conte successfully convinced creators that Patreon would not cave to ideological pressure and would defend free speech. Most remained convinced until “The Sargon Incident.”

Many creators and patrons have since expressed frustration and disappointment in the platform. They see the banning of Benjamin as a betrayal. Indeed, many have already abandoned Patreon for SubscribeStar, an alternative crowdfunding platform.

While Sam Harris is not a conservative, he is not a fascist either. This move has made him a hero of free speech in many circles.

People on Twitter are talking about it non-stop.

https://twitter.com/StefanMolyneux/status/1074494605930840065

https://twitter.com/devtul/status/1074144640842883072

Much respect to Sam Harris for taking a stand for what he believes in, even if it's not a popular move in the circles he runs with.

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