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<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nMatthew Prince\u00a0 \u00a0Qilai Shen | Bloomberg | Getty Images<\/h5>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nCloudflare CEO Matthew Prince is defending his\u00a0decision to pull the plug<\/a>\u00a0on the controversial website used by the El Paso shooting suspect.<\/p>\nThe company, which provides security software and other services to websites that help them stay online, announced\u00a0in a blog post<\/a>\u00a0Sunday night that it was terminating services to 8chan after the suspected gunman in the El Paso shooting\u00a0appeared to use it to post<\/a> an anti-immigrant and anti-government screed. The shooting on Saturday left at least 20 people dead and another 26 wounded. Cloudflare initially said on Sunday that it would not cut off 8chan.<\/p>\nSince announcing the move to cut off 8chan, the U.S. cybersecurity company has faced criticism from some who say it is wrongfully policing the internet.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you are on Twitter right now, all of the 8chan supporters are saying \u2018Why don\u2019t you cut off Facebook or Twitter because there are horrible things that get posted to them?\u2019 That\u2019s true, there are horrible things that get posted to them,\u201d Prince\u00a0said in an interview<\/a>\u00a0with Ben Thompson, an independent analyst who runs Stratechery.<\/p>\nUnlike 8chan, social media platforms like\u00a0Facebook<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Twitter<\/a>\u201caren\u2019t lawless platforms,\u201d Prince said, citing the companies\u2019 global moderation teams and policies around hate speech.<\/p>\n\u201cIf you don\u2019t have that, then you do fall into a different bucket,\u201d Prince said. \u201cThat was the rationale that we came to.\u201d<\/p>\n
8chan demonstrated that it\u2019s \u201ctruly lawless,\u201d by not responding to abuse complaints and ultimately \u201cdirectly inspired\u201d three mass shootings, he added, referring to the attacks in El Paso, Christchurch, New Zealand and at the Chabad of Poway synagogue in Poway, California.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile we think it\u2019s really important that we are not the ones being the arbiter of what is good or bad, if at the end of the day content platforms aren\u2019t taking any responsibility, or in some cases actively thwarting it, and we see that there is real harm that those platforms are doing, then maybe that is the time that we cut people off,\u201d Prince said.<\/p>\n
Cloudflare has previously cut off service to websites promoting hateful content. In 2017, the company terminated service with website the Daily Stormer in the wake of the deadly Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, which left three people dead.<\/p>\n
Social media platforms have recently announced sweeping measures to beat back hate speech and other content that violate their policies. Earlier this year, Facebook and Google-owned YouTube began removing content promoting supremacist content.<\/p>\n
Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince is defending his\u00a0decision to pull the plug<\/a>\u00a0on the controversial website used by the El Paso shooting suspect.<\/p>\n The company, which provides security software and other services to websites that help them stay online, announced\u00a0in a blog post<\/a>\u00a0Sunday night that it was terminating services to 8chan after the suspected gunman in the El Paso shooting\u00a0appeared to use it to post<\/a> an anti-immigrant and anti-government screed. The shooting on Saturday left at least 20 people dead and another 26 wounded. Cloudflare initially said on Sunday that it would not cut off 8chan.<\/p>\n Since announcing the move to cut off 8chan, the U.S. cybersecurity company has faced criticism from some who say it is wrongfully policing the internet.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you are on Twitter right now, all of the 8chan supporters are saying \u2018Why don\u2019t you cut off Facebook or Twitter because there are horrible things that get posted to them?\u2019 That\u2019s true, there are horrible things that get posted to them,\u201d Prince\u00a0said in an interview<\/a>\u00a0with Ben Thompson, an independent analyst who runs Stratechery.<\/p>\n Unlike 8chan, social media platforms like\u00a0Facebook<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Twitter<\/a>\u201caren\u2019t lawless platforms,\u201d Prince said, citing the companies\u2019 global moderation teams and policies around hate speech.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you don\u2019t have that, then you do fall into a different bucket,\u201d Prince said. \u201cThat was the rationale that we came to.\u201d<\/p>\n 8chan demonstrated that it\u2019s \u201ctruly lawless,\u201d by not responding to abuse complaints and ultimately \u201cdirectly inspired\u201d three mass shootings, he added, referring to the attacks in El Paso, Christchurch, New Zealand and at the Chabad of Poway synagogue in Poway, California.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile we think it\u2019s really important that we are not the ones being the arbiter of what is good or bad, if at the end of the day content platforms aren\u2019t taking any responsibility, or in some cases actively thwarting it, and we see that there is real harm that those platforms are doing, then maybe that is the time that we cut people off,\u201d Prince said.<\/p>\n Cloudflare has previously cut off service to websites promoting hateful content. In 2017, the company terminated service with website the Daily Stormer in the wake of the deadly Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, which left three people dead.<\/p>\n Social media platforms have recently announced sweeping measures to beat back hate speech and other content that violate their policies. Earlier this year, Facebook and Google-owned YouTube began removing content promoting supremacist content.<\/p>\n