A San Francisco-based company, Cloudflare, announced that it would stop providing support to 8chan due to the mass attack that took place at a Walmart store in El Paso, Texas on Saturday.
8chan is among the more than 19 million Internet properties that use Cloudflare’s service. We just sent notice that we are terminating 8chan as a customer effective at midnight tonight Pacific Time. The rationale is simple: they have proven themselves to be lawless and that lawlessness has caused multiple tragic deaths. Even if 8chan may not have violated the letter of the law in refusing to moderate their hate-filled community, they have created an environment that revels in violating its spirit – Matthew Prince, CEO, Cloudflare
Such an announcement came as a response to the mass attack by a 21-year-old suspect in the El Paso Walmart shooting, which resulted in the deaths of 20 people. The shooter has posted a four-page statement on 8chan minutes before the attack. The post had expressed support for the gunman who had attacked and killed 51 people back in March.
The suspects of the Christchurch shooting had also posted a link to his screed on 8chan, and a link to his Facebook live feed, and the suspect in a synagogue shooting, California posted a racist and anti-Semitic letter on 8chan.
Cloudflare, which aimed at providing internet infrastructure services to 8chan and helping keep the site online, now resists cutting ties with 8chan in the wake of the El Paso attack. The company had been in contact with law enforcement. However, 8chan may still be able to stay online using other services.
