Over the last few weeks concerns have flared up regarding Kiwi Farms. The nearly decade old forum has been a breeding ground for harassment both online and in the real world for years, but now its future is in jeopardy.
This is because Cloudflare has announced that it has blocked Kiwi Farms from using its services.
“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,” wrote chief executive officer at Cloudflare, Matthew Prince.
“However, the rhetoric on the Kiwifarms 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 [sic] or any other customer before,” said Prince.
The blockade has been set up following a targeted harassment campaign against YouTuber and Twitch streamer Clara Sorrenti. The content creator began speaking out against anti-transsexual legislation in the US and became a target of Kiwi Farms users. The harassment was so intense that it followed the creator to Europe according to this NBC report.
Even Marjorie Taylor Greene was targeted by Kiwi Farms users.
Following harassment, Sorrenti started a campaign calling for the forum to be banned by Cloudflare. While Cloudflare sympathises with Sorrenti, Prince says her campaign wasn’t the reason for its decision.
However, as the Sorrenti’s calls grew louder, so too did the rhetoric on Kiwi Farms.
“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,” said Prince.
Even Cloudflare acknowledges that this isn’t a silver bullet and Kiwi Farms will find an alternative just like Daily Stormer and 8chan did.
The firm also acknowledges that its actions may serve to make users on Kiwi Farms feel more isolated and lead them to lash out further.
“We will continue to work proactively with law enforcement to help with their investigations into the site and the individuals who have posted what may be illegal content to it. And we recognize that while our blocking Kiwifarms temporarily addresses the situation, it by no means solves the underlying problem. That solution will require much more work across society. We are hopeful that our action today will help provoke conversations toward addressing the larger problem. And we stand ready to participate in that conversation,” Cloudflare’s CEO concludes.
The fact that Cloudflare has only taken action now however, is incredibly alarming. Harassment stemming from the website has lead to at least three suicides so the fact that the forum was ever allowed to use Cloudflare’s protection is alarming.
We should also point out that as reported by The Verge, Cloudflare had refused to take action against the website.
“Just as the telephone company doesn’t terminate your line if you say awful, racist, bigoted things, we have concluded in consultation with politicians, policy makers, and experts that turning off security services because we think what you publish is despicable is the wrong policy,” the firm said before changing its tune.
We understand that these matters are complex, but when a website is known for targeted harassment campaigns, maybe we shouldn’t wait until violence is on a target’s doorstep to take action against it.
[Source – Cloudflare] [Image – CC 0 Pixabay]
