The online ban on President Trump and his supporters has spread from Facebook and Twitter to lesser-known companies that operate the Internet infrastructure, threatening his ability to raise money, gather supporters and remain a political and cultural force as he prepares to step down. .
A number of web security, hosting and payment companies are disrupting services for Trump and organizations that have tolerated right-wing extremists who advocate more violence.
The changes highlight the power that a small number of companies have over the Internet, including some lesser-known technology companies in the Bay Area that provide the pipeline for a modern web presence. Although they are best known by application designers and web engineers, their services allow websites to load quickly, allow users to verify their identities and log in, and securely process payments. Without them, it is difficult to maintain any type of online presence that reaches a large number of people.
The Henderson, Nevada, social network Parler went offline on Monday after Amazon Web Services stopped hosting it, while the consequences of Wednesday’s uprising in Capital Hill continue.
Parler users called for the assassinations of Trump’s political enemies and more violence if President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration proceeds, according to the images.
San Francisco’s Twilio, which offers communication tools, including those used by Parler to protect user accounts, also abandoned the application as a customer.
Twilio said Parler violated a policy “which prohibits the spread of disinformation, encouraging violence, destruction of property and other illegal activities, threatening public security and damaging Twilio’s reputation.”
“We identified posts on Parler that advocated civil war, spread malicious and fraudulent messages about the election, urged users to murder government officials and advocated racially motivated violence. The account is suspended indefinitely, ”added the company.
San Francisco startup Okta, which helps companies manage user identities, also said it removed Parler’s access to its services. “While we support organizations across the political spectrum, our (services) will not be used for threats of violence and illegal activities,” the company said on Twitter.
The changes are significant, but the ability to curb hate speech and white supremacy online is limited, said Robyn Caplan, a researcher at Data & Society, a technology-focused nonprofit.
“We saw the same thing after Charlottesville, but it didn’t necessarily weaken white supremacy,” said Caplan, referring to the 2017 march by white and neo-Nazi supremacists in Virginia.
After the murder of Heather Heyer in a counter-protest, Google and the website hosting company GoDaddy blocked the neo-Nazi website Daily Stormer. He has since returned with a different domain name.
“It will continue to be a blow-and-mole game,” said Caplan.
Parler sued Amazon on Monday for expelling it from its web hosting service, claiming that the Seattle e-commerce company, which leases capacity in its data centers to other companies, was “apparently motivated by political animosity. Apparently, it was also designed to reduce competition in the microblogging services market for the benefit of Twitter. “
Amazon previously cited Parler’s lack of moderation of content as a reason to shut down the service. Google and Apple also removed Parler’s mobile version of their app stores after last week’s turmoil, citing similar concerns.
After critics discovered that Teespring, a San Francisco t-shirt selling service, was offering “Camp Auschwitz” T-shirts like those worn by some Capitol rioters, she cut deals with the salesman who sold them.
“We categorically do not allow or tolerate any content that promotes racist, anti-Semitic or hate speech messages, including the neo-Nazi designs that currently circulate online,” said a company spokesman by email. “Anyone who submits this type of content will be quickly and permanently banned” from the service, said the spokesman.
The San Francisco Stripe, one of the largest online payment processors, will stop processing donations to Trump, the Wall Street Journal reported, complicating the president’s financial future. PayPal and Shopify have also severed ties with Trump, and GoFundMe has removed fundraising campaigns by Trump supporters.
Caplan said the bans show that energy technology companies exercise, and said that this requires continued scrutiny, especially when marginalized groups are affected by restrictions.
“What most defenders in space would like to see is a lot more consistency from these (companies), a lot more transparency,” said Caplan.
Shwanika Narayan and Roland Li are editors of the San Francisco Chronicle. Email: [email protected], [email protected] Twitter: @shwanika, @rolandlisf