Cloudflare stops services to ‘revolting’ far right hate site
(2022/09/05)
- Reference: 1662345211
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2022/09/05/cloudflare_emergency_decision/
- Source link:
Cloudflare has decided to stop providing its services to Kiwi Farms, just days after [1]defending the site’s eligibility for its services.
Kiwi Farms is an online forum that frequently features vicious harassment of minority communities and individuals. Some members have even organised real-world harassment, doxing, and swatting of targets they hate. Three suicides are credibly linked to hateful harassment initiated by Kiwi Farms members.
Harassment on the forums led to a campaign asking Cloudflare to drop the site, in the public interest.
Revolting content alone does not create an emergency situation that necessitates the action we are taking today
Cloudflare last week responded to that campaign with an explanation that its policies mean it would continue serving the forums.
"Hosting products are those products where Cloudflare is the ultimate host of the content," wrote CEO Matthew Prince and VP Alissa Starzak at the time. "This is different from products where we are merely providing security or temporary caching services and the content is hosted elsewhere."
[2]
On Sunday, Prince [3]announced that Cloudflare had stopped serving Kiwi Farms.
[4]
[5]
“This is an extraordinary decision for us to make and, given Cloudflare's role as an Internet infrastructure provider, a dangerous one that we are not comfortable with,” Prince wrote, adding: “However, the rhetoric on the Kiwifarms [sic] site and specific, targeted threats have escalated over the last 48 hours to the point that we believe there is an unprecedented emergency and immediate threat to human life unlike we have previously seen from Kiwifarms or any other customer before.”
Price said Cloudflare’s decision was based on the escalation of threats posted to Kiwi Farms, not the campaign to have the company deny service to the forum.
[6]
“Kiwifarms has frequently been host to revolting content. Revolting content alone does not create an emergency situation that necessitates the action we are taking today,” Prince wrote.
[7]Twilio, Cloudflare just two of 135 orgs targeted by Oktapus phishing campaign
[8]Cloudflare: Someone tried to pull the Twilio phishing tactic on us too
[9]Akamai: We stopped record DDoS attack in Europe
[10]Apple network traffic takes mysterious detour through Russia
“We are also not taking this action directly because of the pressure campaign,” Prince wrote on Sunday, saying that Cloudflare has “empathy for its organizers” but the company is “committed as a security provider to protecting our customers even when they run deeply afoul of popular opinion or even our own morals.”
“However, as the pressure campaign escalated, so did the rhetoric on the Kiwifarms site. Feeling attacked, users of the site became even more aggressive. Over the last two weeks, we have proactively reached out to law enforcement in multiple jurisdictions highlighting what we believe are potential criminal acts and imminent threats to human life that were posted to the site.”
Prince said the decision leaves Cloudflare’s abuse policies unaltered, and lamented having to make the decision in the absence of “a mechanism when there is an emergency threat to human life for infrastructure providers to work expediently with legal authorities in order to ensure the decisions we make are grounded in due process.”
“Unfortunately, that mechanism does not exist and so we are making this uncomfortable emergency decision alone,” the CEO wrote.
[11]
Prince added that he expected the decision would see Kiwi Farms provide another provider, a prediction that has come to pass: Kiwi Farms has moved to a Russian domain and found another DDOS prevention service. The Register spent a few seconds on the site to verify it can be accessed and immediately found a thread disputing Prince’s account of Cloudflare’s assessment of escalated threats appearing on the forum. ®
Get our [12]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.theregister.com/2022/08/31/cloudflare_kiwi_farm/
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/legal&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2YxV0WBwovgk2@iAY8@BKPAAAAI4&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://blog.cloudflare.com/kiwifarms-blocked/
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/legal&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YxV0WBwovgk2@iAY8@BKPAAAAI4&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/legal&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YxV0WBwovgk2@iAY8@BKPAAAAI4&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/legal&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YxV0WBwovgk2@iAY8@BKPAAAAI4&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2022/08/25/twilio_cloudflare_oktapus_phishing/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2022/08/10/cloudflare_twilio_phishing/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2022/08/01/ddos_europe_akamai/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2022/07/27/apple_networking_traffic_russia_bgp/
[11] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/legal&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YxV0WBwovgk2@iAY8@BKPAAAAI4&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[12] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Kiwi Farms is an online forum that frequently features vicious harassment of minority communities and individuals. Some members have even organised real-world harassment, doxing, and swatting of targets they hate. Three suicides are credibly linked to hateful harassment initiated by Kiwi Farms members.
Harassment on the forums led to a campaign asking Cloudflare to drop the site, in the public interest.
Revolting content alone does not create an emergency situation that necessitates the action we are taking today
Cloudflare last week responded to that campaign with an explanation that its policies mean it would continue serving the forums.
"Hosting products are those products where Cloudflare is the ultimate host of the content," wrote CEO Matthew Prince and VP Alissa Starzak at the time. "This is different from products where we are merely providing security or temporary caching services and the content is hosted elsewhere."
[2]
On Sunday, Prince [3]announced that Cloudflare had stopped serving Kiwi Farms.
[4]
[5]
“This is an extraordinary decision for us to make and, given Cloudflare's role as an Internet infrastructure provider, a dangerous one that we are not comfortable with,” Prince wrote, adding: “However, the rhetoric on the Kiwifarms [sic] site and specific, targeted threats have escalated over the last 48 hours to the point that we believe there is an unprecedented emergency and immediate threat to human life unlike we have previously seen from Kiwifarms or any other customer before.”
Price said Cloudflare’s decision was based on the escalation of threats posted to Kiwi Farms, not the campaign to have the company deny service to the forum.
[6]
“Kiwifarms has frequently been host to revolting content. Revolting content alone does not create an emergency situation that necessitates the action we are taking today,” Prince wrote.
[7]Twilio, Cloudflare just two of 135 orgs targeted by Oktapus phishing campaign
[8]Cloudflare: Someone tried to pull the Twilio phishing tactic on us too
[9]Akamai: We stopped record DDoS attack in Europe
[10]Apple network traffic takes mysterious detour through Russia
“We are also not taking this action directly because of the pressure campaign,” Prince wrote on Sunday, saying that Cloudflare has “empathy for its organizers” but the company is “committed as a security provider to protecting our customers even when they run deeply afoul of popular opinion or even our own morals.”
“However, as the pressure campaign escalated, so did the rhetoric on the Kiwifarms site. Feeling attacked, users of the site became even more aggressive. Over the last two weeks, we have proactively reached out to law enforcement in multiple jurisdictions highlighting what we believe are potential criminal acts and imminent threats to human life that were posted to the site.”
Prince said the decision leaves Cloudflare’s abuse policies unaltered, and lamented having to make the decision in the absence of “a mechanism when there is an emergency threat to human life for infrastructure providers to work expediently with legal authorities in order to ensure the decisions we make are grounded in due process.”
“Unfortunately, that mechanism does not exist and so we are making this uncomfortable emergency decision alone,” the CEO wrote.
[11]
Prince added that he expected the decision would see Kiwi Farms provide another provider, a prediction that has come to pass: Kiwi Farms has moved to a Russian domain and found another DDOS prevention service. The Register spent a few seconds on the site to verify it can be accessed and immediately found a thread disputing Prince’s account of Cloudflare’s assessment of escalated threats appearing on the forum. ®
Get our [12]Tech Resources
[1] https://www.theregister.com/2022/08/31/cloudflare_kiwi_farm/
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/legal&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2YxV0WBwovgk2@iAY8@BKPAAAAI4&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://blog.cloudflare.com/kiwifarms-blocked/
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/legal&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YxV0WBwovgk2@iAY8@BKPAAAAI4&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/legal&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YxV0WBwovgk2@iAY8@BKPAAAAI4&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[6] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/legal&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YxV0WBwovgk2@iAY8@BKPAAAAI4&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2022/08/25/twilio_cloudflare_oktapus_phishing/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2022/08/10/cloudflare_twilio_phishing/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2022/08/01/ddos_europe_akamai/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2022/07/27/apple_networking_traffic_russia_bgp/
[11] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/legal&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33YxV0WBwovgk2@iAY8@BKPAAAAI4&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[12] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Nothing as permanent as a temporary solution
Oglethorpe
I hope the activists heed Cloudflare's words regarding the need for a legal framework for these situations. While far from identical, Roe vs Wade should teach us that you need to follow through on reversible (or in this case, extrajudicial and per-case) decisions that only achieve a fragile desired outcome.
Proud Boys = Antifa
The Proud Boys have been attacking children book-readings by Panto-dames in libraries across the US. They pop up in groups armed with AR15s, pretend the kids are being brain washed by readings of "Rapunzel" and "The little engine that could". Storm the Library waving their assault rifles around to scare the kids, make a photo op for their GOP handlers to use on Fox.
Now its taken a new turn. Antifa has popped up, all dressed in blacked, armed with AR15s too, there to defend the kids from the Proud Boys.
But ANTIFA is just shorthand for anti-fascists. When you hear from Tucker and Fox News claim that "Antifa is plotting this", or "planning that", or "storming the Capitol on January 6th", these are just lies. A boogieman to scare their viewers. There is no reason a group of anti-fascists would agree to dress up the same, train as a group, all spend thousands of dollars each buying the exact same assault rifle, take time off from their jobs, travel across America to do the defense. How would they even know where the Proud Boys will strike? Can you imagine the discussions as they all supposed to dress in *black*? Black? The traditional color of the baddies? Why buy the same expensive dark sun glasses, when they already have sun glasses?
These fake antifa groups are the Proud Boys too. They just simply dressed half of their guys in black. It will be the same money-man, paying the same weapons bills, paying the same costumier, and the same producer, the same director. They are the same group.
So, at some point one of these "proud-boys-antifa" groups will shoot some innocent person not in their Proud Boys groups, and they will officially be the bad guys. Handy that they are dressed in black and look intimidating right? Fox News will likely have their story line already written and prepped, no doubt, as if they're coordinating with the PBs, or at least the same money-man that's behind them. If Antifa was an actual terrorist organization, how come their communications come from Fox News? You see why that's a false-flag.
The most extemist content, is stuff from Tucker Carlson, spewing his "white replacement" theory, mass murderers like Payton Gendron, shoot and kill lots of people putting out a manifesto, echoing Tucker's words. Extremist lies are mainstream Republican TV these days.
So prep yourselves, for whatever the money-man, that's funding the PBs and the fake Antifa has instore. It won't be nice but it will be televised.