Patreon Lays Off Its Entire Security Team

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Patreon Lays Off Its Entire Security Team​

That could be a problem for a platform that manages payments, contact information, and more.​

Patreon has reportedly laid off its entire security team.

CyberScoop reports that several former employees have confirmed the layoffs, which occurred last week, and that Patreon doesn't seem to be worried about no longer having a security team.



"As part of a strategic shift of a portion of our security program, we have parted ways with five employees," Patreon told CyberScoop. "The changes made this week will have no impact on our ability to continue providing a secure and safe platform for our creators and patrons."


NBC News reporter Kevin Collier says that Patreon said in a statement that it "partner with a number of external organizations to continuously develop our security capabilities and conduct regular security assessments to ensure we meet or exceed the highest industry standards."

Many companies operate without dedicated security teams. Some have their IT department handle security for them, others turn to managed security service providers (MSSPs), and still others rely on some combination of crossed fingers, rabbit feet, and optimism.

But those companies aren't typically as large as Patreon. The company says on its website that more than 250,000 creators are using its platform to deliver content to over 8 million patrons. Those creators are said to have earned more than $3.5 billion—and that's after Patreon's fees.

Patreon is also entrusted with a lot of information about creators and patrons alike. That includes payment details, contact information, and in some cases shipping addresses used to deliver physical rewards to backers, not to mention patron-exclusive content hosted on the platform.

In a message to Patreon's Discord server shared with PCMag, Patreon's Senior VP of Engineering Utkarsh Srivastava said the company isn't "scaling back investing in our security programs" and would actually be "expanding our investment in security as we continue to grow."

There seems to be a disconnect between Patreon letting its entire security team go, as now-former senior security engineer Emily Metcalfe said on LinkedIn, and Srivastava telling creators the company is looking to invest more in the security of its platform moving forward.

Srivastava said that "there has been no security breach or incident of any kind in recent months" and that "this action was not the result of a breach or incident, external or internal." So it's not clear how an expanded investment in security is related to laying off security professionals.

In a statement, a Patreon spokesperson told us "more investments mean outside partnerships, engineering expertise we've added in recent months to our infrastructure and payments teams, and the fact that we are hiring heavily in engineering and product development right now."

 

[NoReturn]

It's the same thing that Microsoft did with their QA and SDETs. They insisted that their internal dev processes and external community testing programs would be good enough. Then they released a Windows update that wiped users' hard drives.

What is it with these douchebags and thinking they're more intelligent than security? It's not just the digital security people either, even security hardware guys get lumped in with the "Oh you're just a rent-a-cop".
Ok, have fun when some rando walks in off the street because you couldn't figure out how to secure your data center, dipshit.

 

[Positron]

Both the e-beggars and their dumb paypigs deserve to have their IDs leaked.

 

[Mittens]

I think it's a tranny

I believe so if this is the same person: https://alterconf.com/speakers/emily-metcalfe

 

[Sparkletor 2.0]

PATREON FIRES THE ENTIRE SECURITY TEAM!!!

It was 5 dudes. Not a big deal.

 

[SomeDood]

PATREON FIRES THE ENTIRE SECURITY TEAM!!!

It was 5 dudes. Not a big deal.

Not only that, but at least 2/5 of the fired ""security team"" were frothing-at-the-mouth tranny jannys

the only hope is that they find a company to outsource "security" to, which isn't cucked beyond belief

 

[Naes]

Oh dear. they REALLY are going to use up all of thier "spoons" now.

(speaking of the trannys fired)

Countdown to a massive leak; of info.

 

[Goodbye Horses]

I had to do the same thing recently with my dev team, because they were fucking useless and making the whole team redundant was the easiest way to get rid of them. It doesn't mean we're not doing development anymore, it just means the new developers we hired are part of the support team and have different job titles. In six months they'll be a reshuffle and the developers will be moved into a seperate team and be re-titled to developers again, because that's the legal amount of time you have to wait before you can rehire for a position you previously made redundant, at least where I am.

 

[Polarity]

I believe so if this is the same person: https://alterconf.com/speakers/emily-metcalfe

Yep, that clears it up. If you ever see a woman's name in cybersecurity, it's a troon 99.98% of the time. Because nothing secures your website more than a troon honking in falsetto at H1-Bs.

 

[BelUwUga]

Yep, that clears it up. If you ever see a woman's name in cybersecurity, it's a troon 99.98% of the time. Because nothing secures your website more than a troon honking in falsetto at H1-Bs.

Making your potential social engineering targets inherently insufferable is a rather novel solution. Let's see how it pays off in 6-24 months when we find out how many prepared "insurance policies" for the inevitable.

 

[quaawaa]

There's a major twist to this story:

Patreon Fires Security Staff Amid Allegations of Protecting ‘MAPs’​

By Janet Douglas September 13, 2022



A GlassDoor review by a former Patreon employee is going viral on TikTok following news Patreon abruptly fired their entire security team. The ex-employee alleged that the company was forcing trust and safety team members to overlook pedophilic content on the platform and protect “minor-attracted people.”

On September 8, Emily Metcalfe, a now-former security and privacy engineer at Patreon, posted to LinkedIn that the entire Patreon security team had been abruptly let go.

“So, for better or for worse, I and the rest of the Patreon Security Team are no longer with the company,” Metcalfe wrote, soliciting leads on new roles within the industry. Metcalfe’s post went viral after a screenshot was shared to Twitter by information security lawyer Whitney Merrill.


Tweet (Archive)

While people were initially skeptical at the news, Patreon confirmed the news the next day in a statement issued to CyberScoop, claiming they had decided to cut their internal security team in favor of third-party solutions. “The changes made this week will have no impact on our ability to continue providing a secure and safe platform for our creators and patrons,” Patreon stated.
But following the abrupt decision, an ex-employee statement from August began to circulate and raise alarm bells amongst social media users.

On August 16, a former trust and safety specialist at Patreon took to job review platform GlassDoor to allege that Patreon had demonstrated negligence with regards to child safeguarding in a review simply titled “Illegal.”

Spoiler: Full Glassdoor Review

The former employee, who worked at Patreon for over one year, claimed platform management had been actively encouraging safety staff to overlook pedophilic content unless ordered to do otherwise by law enforcement.

“We are being told specifically by management and executives NOT to take down content that is illegal or was reported as sexual in nature involving minors unless the police make contact with legal or we have an order by a court,” the ex-employee wrote. “When others try to inform management that there’s an amalgamation of accounts that are selling lewd photographs of what appear to be children, all concerns are dismissed.”

Disturbingly, the review goes on to note that Patreon higher ups are “advocating for customers who are minor-attracted persons (or MAPs),” and concludes by saying: “This is no way to run a company, this is no way to allow children to be exploited on our platform like this.”

Under ‘advice to management,’ the ex-employee writes: “Have federal law enforcement investigate the company because there’s no way what we’re doing is legal.”

The review first came to widespread attention after being posted to TikTok by Ben Hughes, who slammed Patreon for its lack of child safeguarding measures. Hughes’ video quickly wracked up over 160,000 views and 28,000 likes.

But another TikToker’s experience with Patreon is now at the forefront of the discussion, as she claims Patreon had done precisely what the former employee alleged, and ignored her reports of pedophilic content.

Parenting lifestyle and child safeguarding commentator Sarah Adams, known on the app as mom.uncharted, made a video in February of this year discussing her experience attempting to inform Patreon about potentially illegal content.

Adams had first been alerted to an Instagram account featuring sexualized photos of what she says appeared to be a young girl. Adams quickly found the account also had a linked Patreon with over 2,000 donors.

In her original video, posted on February 16, Adams said the photos had given her “human trafficking vibes,” and she attempted to rally her more than 150,000 followers to have Patreon remove the account.


TikTok (Archive)

Spoiler: Video from TIkTok

On February 22, Adams reached out to Patreon again after no action had been taken on the page.

The next day, she received a message from Patreon claiming that the creator of the page was verified as being over the age of 18 and there was no violation found. Adams expressed skepticism at the time, reading details on the Patreon age verification process, which at the time did not require valid government-issued ID.

In June, Adams announced Instagram had suspended the account, but it wasn’t until July or August that Patreon finally removed the content on their platform.

Speaking to Reduxx, Adams says the account has already popped back up on Instagram under a different username. Providing the link to Reduxx for review, the Instagram appears to be a collection of “soft-core” pornography featuring girls who seem to be underage. Additional tagged pages within the photos lead to similar accounts, one with even younger-looking girls.

Adams says that, when it was active, the Patreon had locked sections with photos available only to those subscribed donors.

“My assumption was that if [that] is what was displayed on the Instagram account, then the Patreon must be worse.”

Adams, who educates her followers on ways to protect children in the digital age, says child safeguarding by social media platforms has been lacking across the board. While this was the only example she has personally witnessed on Patreon, she notes that other TikTokers have been exposing similar disturbing incidents they’ve come across.

Spoiler: Other TikTok Video

Source (Archive)

“This type of content is found on all social media platforms and there does not seem to be an urgency in removing it,” Adams says.

“I do not believe any platform is doing enough to protect children or monitor for [child sexual abuse] material. My assumption is that the exploitation of children adds to the bottom line of these companies so they are not in a hurry to implement change despite stating the safety of children is a top priority for them.”

On the recent news of the Patreon safety team being let go, Adams calls it a “surprising and unorthodox move” for a large company.
“Given the nature of the role, there could be a variety of reasons the team was let go. But I can’t lie, after that GlassDoor review, one can’t help but speculate.”

The TikToker also offers a recommendation for users who might become aware of pedophilic or exploitative content while using social media.

“First, report it on the platform. Second, report it to The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.” Adams also suggests copying links and bringing them to CyperTip.ca for Canadian residents.

Through the controversy, some are pointing out Patreon’s selectivity in what content they choose to action on.

The platform has been notorious for suspending creators who express views on political subjects that don’t align with the mainstream.

Earlier this year, YouTuber Sydney Watson was suspended from Patreon for “hate speech.” While Patreon did not explicitly state what Watson had done that fell under that policy, they did confirm it hadn’t been anything she said on their platform, and had been from activity of hers they had been monitoring elsewhere on the internet.


Tweet (Archive)

Spoiler: Images in Tweet

Second Tweet in Thread:

Tweet (Archive)

Spoiler: Images in Tweet

In 2021, Kellie-Jay Keen, a popular feminist activist from the United Kingdom, was also banned from Patreon. Like Watson, Keen was told she had violated “hate speech” policies, though Patreon never specified what she had done wrong.

Get The L Out UK, a grassroots campaign group which advocates for the rights of lesbians, was also recently banned from Patreon.

Despite the suspensions of political commentators on all sides of the political spectrum, another content creator, a YouTuber and “QTPOC” comic book artist who goes by the name Banjees, has posted content on Patreon coming out as a “minor-attracted person” with no apparent resistance from the platform.



Reduxx reached out to Patreon for comment on the allegations made by the former employee on GlassDoor, and was referred to a blog post made today in which they attempted to address the comments.

In the post, Patreon claims the statement made on GlassDoor was “unequivocally false” and labels it “disinformation” and a “conspiracy.” The platform goes on to state that there is no connection between any information shared in the GlassDoor review and the mass termination of the security team.

While the post also asserts that Patreon “has zero tolerance for the sexualization of children or teenagers,” it does not address its extreme delay in action on the account reported by Sarah Adams in February — one it initially defended and left active.

The term “minor-attracted person” was first coined by pro-pedophilia lobbying group B4U-ACT, which was founded in 2003 by convicted child rapist Michael Melsheimer. Melsheimer explicitly stated that the purpose of the organization was to normalize pedophilia where the National Association of Man-Boy Love had failed to do so.

Around the time of the organization’s creation, Melsheimer advised his fellow pedophiles on pederast forum BoyChat that his new approach for normalizing pedophilia would be focused around garnering public sympathy by deceptively claiming that the humanization of pedophiles would lead to a reduction in child sexual abuse.

Today, B4U-Act had worked with multiple University researchers on the subject of destigmatizing pedophilia, and its highly-promoted term of “minor-attracted person” has gained broad usage, primarily amongst academics.

Earlier this year, a controversial PhD researcher was hired on at a national child safeguarding center just months after being fired for advocating for the rights of “minor-attracted people.”

On May 12, the Moore Center for the Prevention of Child Sexual Abuse announced that Allyn Walker would be joining the Center as a postdoctoral fellow. Walker was an assistant professor of sociology and criminal justice at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia until she came under fire in late 2021 after releasing a book titled “A Long, Dark Shadow: Minor-Attracted People and Their Pursuit of Dignity.”

Source (Archive)

Patreon's Response:

False allegations on social media​

September 13, 2022 | patreon



Dangerous and conspiratorial disinformation began circulating on social media recently, alleging that Patreon has hosted child sexual abuse material (CSAM). We want to let all of our creators and patrons know that these claims are unequivocally false and set the record straight.

The disinformation stemmed from a single fraudulent claim on a job posting site, which onlookers inaccurately linked to small-scale staffing changes we made last week to our security organization. This has led to a conspiracy that Patreon knowingly hosts illegal and child-exploitative material.

First, let us be crystal clear: Patreon has zero tolerance for the sexualization of children or teenagers. We strive to keep our community safe on all fronts. We unequivocally forbid creators from funding content dedicated to non-consensual or illegal sexual themes and regularly review creators’ accounts to ensure creators behind adult campaigns are over the age of 18. We work with law enforcement globally and partner with world-class organizations including THORN, The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), and INHOPE because we are committed to keeping the Internet safer.

Second: The important responsibility of monitoring for illegal content in accordance with Patreon’s Community Guidelines lies with our Trust & Safety team, who takes that job very seriously. The security organization, in contrast, focuses on ensuring the safety of things like user and payment data on the platform. Recent changes we made to our security organization were designed to bolster security efforts through relevant in-house and partner expertise. Those vital efforts are completely unrelated to the Trust & Safety Team’s charter to keep the platform safe from harmful and illegal content.

The safety of the Internet and our platform are important to creators and their patrons and for that reason, anyone can report content they feel may violate our guidelines here.

As a global platform that supports hundreds of thousands of creators, we will always prioritize the safety and security of our community.

Source (Archive)

 

[The Emperor Skeksis]

Well this is turning into an interesting trash fire. I imagine some fun people will be trying to break in now that Patreon's security troons are gone to verify some of those claims and more. In minecraft, of course.

 

[repentance]

It's a shame that Patreon users won't leave the platform over this, just like they will never leave Twitter.

 

[notafederalagent]

Opening statement from that Patreon blog:

Dangerous and conspiratorial disinformation

Anyone who uses this phrase unironically needs to be choked to death with Ethernet cables.

 

[Positron]

alleging that Patreon has hosted child sexual abuse material (CSAM).

Patreon might not directly hosts such material, but they support "creators" who make pedophilic material, notably Guillaume "Sophie" Labelle.

 

[Polarity]

Here's my complete guess at what happened:

• Patreon hires tranny security team (the patroons).
• Patroons form fifth column inside company, start de-platforming anyone who participates in wrong-think, beyond your typical woke-leftist tech company 'standards'.
• CEO eventually finds out this is causing them real money.
• Tells team to stop de-platforming their 'enemies'. Probably tells them law enforcement has to be involved to take down a Patreon instead of the tranny commission.
• Patroons keep going, get fired, seed a glassdoor review alleging a MAP conspiracy, feed it to a sympathetic reporter (any of them), get 'revenge'.

The question now is, are any of the allegations actually true? I bet they're half-truths stretched to absurdity.

 

[6 Years Ago]

What is it with these douchebags and thinking they're more intelligent than security?

Security team was probably white and thus safe to fire.

 

[Agent Abe Caprine]

It's the same thing that Microsoft did with their QA and SDETs. They insisted that their internal dev processes and external community testing programs would be good enough. Then they released a Windows update that wiped users' hard drives.

A few feature updates later, they tried making it more annoying to defer and block updates on Pro. No one would even need to use those features if you had this crazy thing called QA. I don't even do any important stuff on my Windows computers. I just don't want stuff I paid thousands for to be bricked by a bunch of Stackexchange educated Indians.

 

[Shroom King]

alleging that Patreon has hosted child sexual abuse material (CSAM).

Why the fuck is there an acronym for child sexual abuse material? Does Patreon deal with this shit so much that they got tired of talking about "child sexual abuse material" and mandated that their employees say "CSAM" instead? Bloody hell, what a bunch of nonces.

 

[notafederalagent]

Why the fuck is there an acronym for child sexual abuse material? Does Patreon deal with this shit so much that they got tired of talking about "child sexual abuse material" and mandated that their employees say "CSAM" instead?

Unfortunately, due to it being commonplace on the internet, it is an industry wide term.

 

[Positron]

• Tells team to stop de-platforming their 'enemies'. Probably tells them law enforcement has to be involved to take down a Patreon instead of the tranny commission.
• Patroons keep going, get fired, seed a glassdoor review alleging a MAP conspiracy, feed it to a sympathetic reporter (any of them), get 'revenge'.

Patroons put child porn in Patreon's server and inform social media about it.