Cloudflare blocks Kiwi Farms (NYSE:NET)
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Cloudy (NYSE:NET) blocked the controversial Kiwi Farms online forum, which was described as a “harassment and harassment” discussion group.
NET CEO Matthew Prince wrote in a blog post that his company had taken steps to block Kiwi Farms content is not accessible through its infrastructure.
“This is an extraordinary decision for us to make and, given Cloudflare’s role as an internet infrastructure provider, a dangerous decision that we are not comfortable with,” he wrote. “However, the rhetoric on the Kiwifarms site and the specific and targeted threats have escalated over the past 48 hours to the point where we believe there is an unprecedented urgency and immediate threat to human life contrary to what we’ve seen from Kiwifarms or any other customer before.”
The move follows an online campaign launched by Canadian Twitch streamer and transgender activist Clara Sorrenti calling on NET to stop supporting Kiwi Farms.
Sorrenti reportedly faced harassment and violent threats at Kiwi Farms, which forced her into hiding.
Reached previously by the Associated Press to comment on the campaign against Kiwi Farms, the forum’s founder only replied that “the press is trash”.
Prince wrote in his blog post that the decision to block Kiwi Farms was not directly the result of the pressure campaign.
“NET provides security services to Kiwi Farms, protecting them from DDoS attacks and other cyber attacks. We have never been their hosting provider… [and] we don’t think termination of security services is appropriate, even for outrageous content,” Prince said.
However, he alleged that the rhetoric about Kiwi Farms continued to grow more aggressive.
Prince said NET has notified law enforcement in multiple jurisdictions over the past two weeks about potential criminal acts and imminent threats to human life posted on Kiwi Farms.
“We will continue to work proactively with law enforcement to assist in investigations of the site and individuals who have posted what may be illegal content on it,” the CEO said.
(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
(Editor’s note: An earlier version of this article did not indicate that some material was from The Associated Press.)
