Go Daddy boots neo-Nazi website
Focus falls on social media services
A rise in domestic
SAN FRANCISCO hate groups — whose vitriol spilled from online forums to the streets of Charlottesville during a violent weekend protest by white supremacists — is intensifying pressure on Go Daddy, Twitter, Google and others to put a lid on U.S. extremist sites.
Civil libertarians and religious leaders say the deadly Charlottesville protest on Saturday could be a tipping point for technology services to bow to consumer outrage and boot white nationalist and neo-Nazi sites that violate terms of service.
If this happens, it will be a change that’s slow in coming. Many Internet providers and platforms include policies that allow them to drop customers and users for a variety of reasons, including incitement of violence.
But they also have cast themselves as forums for the freewheeling debate that’s been a hallmark of the Internet, a role that makes them loathe to police the content their users share.
The eviction of neo-Nazi website The Daily Stormer by Go Daddy and then Google from their domain servers comes after months of complaints to Go Daddy about the white supremacist site’s content. In November, The Daily
Stormer published a list of more than 50 Twitter users who had expressed fear about the outcome of the 2016 presidential election, urging its readers to “punish” them with a barrage of tweets that would drive them to suicide.
Late Sunday, Go Daddy said it was ditching the site after it published a story using sexist and obscene language to disparage Heather Heyer, the 32year-old woman who was killed during a counterprotest after the Charlottesville rally.
“In our determination, especially given the tragic events in Charlottesville, Dailystormer.com crossed the line and encouraged and promoted violence,” Go Daddy spokeswoman Karen Tillman says.