For some hardcore Trump supporters, like Ben Philips, from Bloomburg, Pennsylvania, the revenue earned through the website augments an existing pro-MAGA business. Philips owns the toy company Trumparoo, which makes plush kangaroo toys with a tuft of orange hair similar to Trump’s, which he sells to passengers in the caravans he organizes at Eventbrite, charging $ 25 per person. (Eventbrite typically charges $ 0.79 per ticket sold plus a 4.5% fee for ticket sales on its platform.)
On January 6, Philips died on the Capitol steps of a sudden stroke, hours after leaving a van full of Trump supporters he found at the scene during the presidential rally, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer. The passengers learned of Philips’ death when he did not return to the van. After several calls to his cell phone, a passenger received a call from the Washington Police notifying him that Philips had died.
Philips Eventbrite publications used incendiary language to advertise their ride-sharing service, telling supporters, “It’s 1776, if we don’t fight now, we’ll lose our country”, reminding passengers to “be ready to FIGHT FOR TRUMP! “
Philips’ post for the January 6 rally was removed earlier this week, although some of his other posts are still active on the site. Eventbrite employees say Advertising panel that the company removes content like the Philips post daily and has made significant investments in content monitoring through self-reporting and algorithmic monitoring tools.
“Our Community Guidelines prohibit events, content or creators who share or promote violence, illegal activities and / or misinformation that can result in harm,” wrote the company in a statement sent to Advertising panel. “In light of the January 6 uprising, we now consider the events that fuel false claims about the 2020 election to be a violation of our harmful disinformation policy. Any event, content or creator that seeks to impede democracy is not welcome on our platform. We remain vigilant and will continue to prioritize the rapid removal of such events when we become aware of them. “
Eventbrite has had a difficult relationship with Trump since he adopted the platform during the 2016 Iowa Republican Presidential Caucus. In 2016, white nationalist Richard Spencer was allowed to list two events on the platform, drawing widespread criticism from groups like the Southern Poverty Law Center. After the Unite the Right 2017 rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, where a counter-protester was killed, Eventbrite CEO Julia Hartz began to ban hate groups known as the Proud Boys and anti-Islamic activists Brigitte Tudor.
The 2020 decision to ban “harmful misinformation” from its self-service ticket system came when the company was finalizing efforts to shut down Eventbrite Music, a feature-rich ticket platform that had been used by some of the country’s biggest promoters , but had struggled to grow losses still compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic. On September 30, the company set aside a $ 50 million reserve fund to cover losses from refunds and chargebacks for its music product.
Self-service ticket sales were Eventbrite’s original business model and a complete return should put the company back on the path to profitability. But monitoring millions of users requires significant resources.
While Eventbrite was quick to determine that high-profile events like the November 13 march violated company community guidelines, Trump supporters like Ashley Weiss and Reggie Skyrock Skyrock Patriots had no problem using the platform to sell 400 bus tickets for the January 6 rally – even after they were called by various media to sell non-refundable bus tickets for a second Trump inauguration that promised to happen once President Elect Joe Biden’s electoral victory has been nullified. (Trump’s opening tickets were still on sale at the end of December).
Advertising panel contacted Weiss and Skyrock for comment, but received no response.
In total, Weiss and Skyrock ordered nine buses to transport Trump supporters from Joppa and White Marsh, Maryland, to Washington DC on January 6. The 406 seats available cost $ 50 per seat, according to the Skyrock listing page, generating $ 20,300 in sales. Eventbrite typically charges users 4.5% of sales plus a $ 0.79 fee per ticket, meaning that these sales generated approximately $ 1,200 for Eventbrite.
Trump supporters have also used the platform on a smaller scale: Peter Boykin with the group Gays for Trumps, he says he usually installs microphones near rallies where anyone can say what they think, raising money through Eventbrite’s donation mechanism. (Eventbrite charges a 2.5% processing fee for donations collected on your platform).
“If you make any direct threats to people and keep your comment very general, [Eventbrite] it won’t bother you, “says Boykin, noting that statements about” fighting for your country “are generally acceptable, but making direct allegations against people or groups about the election is” what usually gets people in trouble. “
A confirmed Eventbrite employee for Advertising panel that the company views Skyrock and Philip’s posts as violations of its new policy and removed the archived copies. To improve its existing moderation efforts, Eventbrite has partnered with the Civic Alliance, a bipartisan group that encourages participation in voting and civic engagement.
“We also participated in a statement with our Civic Alliance partners, calling for an orderly and peaceful transition of power,” the company said in an extensive statement provided to Advertising panel. “Through this partnership, we are joined with hundreds of other companies and peer platforms at a critical time to protect the integrity of our electoral process and the functioning of our democratic institutions.”
The complete Eventbrite statement can be found here.