Cloudflare hints it won’t cut ties to site linked to harassment

In a blog post in response to ‘questions that have arisen’, executives compared Cloudflare to a telephone company and said turning off security services because the content is ‘despicable’ is the wrong policy. — Hand photo created by rawpixel.com - www.freepik.com

After days of silence, Cloudflare Inc suggested on Aug 31 it wouldn’t cede to pressure to terminate Internet services for controversial discussion forum Kiwi Farms, issuing a statement about its policies on abuse and saying that it didn’t want to set a precedent for speech on the Internet.

Cloudflare, which provides products from web security services to web hosting and Internet technology, has been under pressure to drop Kiwi Farms as a customer after the online forum known for harassment and hate campaigns recently forced a well-known transgender Twitch streamer into hiding. The Anti-Defamation League has referred to Kiwi Farms as “an extremist-friendly forum that has been the breeding ground for countless harassment campaigns”.