You misunderstood me, it wasn't OP's implication, it's Medium's. Medium implies that by clicking on their link I agreed with their ToS/cookies (so tracking). This is not just a wrong implication, it's an illegal one.

The person I was replying to above only referred to the paywall issue when I think the main basis for the initial plea to avoid Medium was the second point, Medium's objectionable or illegal practices (not just "terrible") against its users. It's sensible to plea not using it or at least not promoting it here.