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Controversies

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Free Speech Debate and Hate Speech Content

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Cloudflare has been criticized for providing anti-hacking and denial of service protection tools to clients whose websites include hate speech content. The company said in 2014 that it has a content neutrality policy and that it opposes the policing of its millions of customers on free speech grounds, except in cases where its customers break the law.[1][2] The company has also faced criticism for providing DDoS protection to websites allegedly connected to terrorism groups,[3][4] but Cloudflare has maintained that no law enforcement agency has asked the company to discontinue these services and it closely monitors its obligations under U.S. laws.[5]

In 2017, Cloudflare stopped providing its services to neo-Nazi website The Daily Stormer after an announcement on the website asserted that the "upper echelons" of Cloudflare were "secretly supporters of their ideology".[6][2] A self-described "free speech absolutist", Cloudflare's CEO Matthew Prince, in a blog post, vowed never to succumb to external pressure again and sought to create a "political umbrella" for the future.[7] Prince further maintained it is dangerous for large companies to decide what is allowed to stay online, a concern echoed by a number of civil liberties groups and privacy experts.[8][9][10] The Electronic Frontier Foundation, a digital rights group, said that services such as Cloudflare "should not be adjudicating what speech is acceptable", adding that "when illegal activity, like inciting violence or defamation, occurs, the proper channel to deal with it is the legal system."[6]

In 2019, Cloudflare was criticized for providing services to the discussion and imageboard 8chan, which allowed users to post and discuss content, including images of child sexual abuse, with minimal interference from site administrators. A Cloudflare representative stated that Cloudflare "does not host the referenced websites, cannot block websites, and is not in the business of hiding companies that host illegal content".[11] After a user of 8chan posted a manifesto on an 8chan forum and then committed a mass shooting in El Paso, Texas in August of 2019, Cloudflare discontinued its services to 8chan.[12][13]

In 2022, a campaign was launched by transgender activist Clara Sorrenti, who had previously been targeted by Kiwi Farms, to pressure Cloudflare to stop providing services to them.[14] On August 31, 2022, Cloudflare responded to the campaign with a blog post that likened its services to that of a public utility, stating that "Just as the telephone company doesn't terminate your line if you say awful, racist, bigoted things, we have concluded ... that turning off security services because we think what you publish is despicable is the wrong policy." [15][16] The company also defended their decision by saying that "where they had provided DDoS protection services to an anti-LGBTIQ+ website, they donated 100% of the fees earned to an organization fighting for LGBTIQ+ rights".[17]

On September 3, 2022, Cloudflare ceased its services to Kiwi Farms, citing urgent escalating rhetoric against targeted individuals, stating that there is an "unprecedented emergency and immediate threat to human life".[18] According to The Washington Post, there was a "surge in credible violent threats stemming from the site" and CEO Matthew Prince said that Cloudflare believed "there is an imminent danger, and the pace at which law enforcement is able to respond to those threats we don't think is fast enough to keep up."[19]

See also: Kiwi Farms § Terminations of service

Cloudflare in Russia

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After Russia invaded Ukraine in late February 2022, Ukrainian Vice Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov[20] said “Cloudflare should not protect Russian web-resources while their tanks and missiles attack our kindergartens.”[21] Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince responded that "[i]ndiscriminately terminating service would do little to harm the Russian government but would both limit [Russian citizens'] access to information outside the country and make significantly more vulnerable those who have used us to shield themselves as they have criticized the government."[22] The company later said it had minimal sales and commercial activity in Russia and had "terminated any customers we have identified as tied to sanctioned entities."[23] In June 2022, Cloudflare announced it would provide free services to the Ukrainian government and Ukrainian telecoms.[24]

  1. ^ Hill, Kashmir (17 August 2014). "The Company Keeping Your Favorite (And Least Favorite) Websites Online". Forbes. Retrieved 15 September 2021.
  2. ^ a b Peterson, Becky (17 August 2017). "Cloudflare CEO explains his emotional decision to punt The Daily Stormer and subject it to hackers: I woke up 'in a bad mood and decided to kick them off the Internet'". Business Insider. Retrieved 15 September 2021.
  3. ^ "Web services firm CloudFlare accused by Anonymous of helping Isis". The Guardian. 19 November 2015. Retrieved 15 September 2021. The week before the Paris attacks, Ghost Security counted almost 40 ISIS websites that use Cloudflare's services.
  4. ^ Cook, Jesselyn (December 14, 2018). "U.S. Tech Giant Cloudflare Provides Cybersecurity For at Least 7 Terror Groups: Among its customers are the Taliban, al-Shabab and Hamas". HuffPost. Retrieved August 5, 2019.
  5. ^ "CloudFlare CEO blasts Anonymous claims of ISIS terrorist support". The Register. 18 November 2015. Retrieved 16 September 2021.
  6. ^ a b Johnson, Steven (January 16, 2018). "Inside Cloudflare's Decision to Let an Extremist Stronghold Burn". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved August 5, 2019.
  7. ^ Lee, Timothy B. (December 4, 2017). "Cloudflare's CEO has a plan to never censor hate speech again". Ars Technica. Retrieved August 5, 2019.
  8. ^ Citron, Danielle Keats (November 28, 2017). "What to Do about the Emerging Threat of Censorship Creep on the Internet" (PDF). Cato Institute. No. 282: 3–4 – via Cato.org. {{cite journal}}: |volume= has extra text (help)
  9. ^ Keller, Daphne (August 15, 2017). "The Daily Stormer, Online Speech, and Internet Registrars". Stanford Center for Internet and Society. Stanford Law School. Retrieved August 6, 2019.
  10. ^ Shaban, Hamza (August 18, 2017). "Banning neo-Nazis online may be slippery slope, tech group warns Silicon Valley". The Washington Post. Retrieved August 6, 2019.
  11. ^ "Cloudflare embroiled in child abuse row". BBC News. October 22, 2019. Retrieved November 15, 2019.
  12. ^ Uebele, Hannah (August 6, 2019). "El Paso: When Freedom Of Speech Turns Violent". WGBH. Retrieved 2021-06-06.
  13. ^ Collins, Ben (August 4, 2019). "Investigators 'reasonably confident' Texas suspect left anti-immigrant screed". NBC News. Retrieved August 22, 2019.
  14. ^ D'Anastasio, Cecilia (August 30, 2022). "Cloudflare Urged to Cut Ties to Site That Promotes Harassment". Bloomberg. Archived from the original on August 30, 2022. Retrieved 30 August 2022.
  15. ^ Alspach, Kyle (August 31, 2022). "Cloudflare probably won't terminate services for 'despicable' sites". Protocol. Archived from the original on August 31, 2022. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
  16. ^ D'Anastasio, Cecilia (August 31, 2022). "Cloudflare Hints It Won't Cut Ties to Site Linked to Harassment". BNN Bloomberg. Archived from the original on August 31, 2022. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
  17. ^ Taylor, Josh (September 1, 2022). "Cloudflare defends providing security services to trans trolling website Kiwi Farms". The Guardian. Archived from the original on September 2, 2022. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  18. ^ "Anti-trans stalkers on harassment site Kiwi Farms got so bad that Cloudflare feared 'immediate threat to human life' and took 'extraordinary' action". Fortune. 5 September 2022. Retrieved 4 October 2022.
  19. ^ Menn, Joseph; Lorenz, Taylor (September 3, 2022). "Under pressure, security firm Cloudflare drops Kiwi Farms website". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on September 3, 2022. Retrieved 3 September 2022.
  20. ^ Timberg, Craig; Zakrzewski, Cat; Menn, Joseph (4 March 2022). "A new iron curtain is descending across Russia's Internet". The Washington Post. Retrieved 11 May 2022.
  21. ^ Stone, Jeff; Gallagher, Ryan (8 March 2022). "Cloudflare Rebuffs Ukraine Requests to Stop Working With Russia". Bloomberg. Retrieved 11 May 2022.
  22. ^ Brodkin, Jon (8 March 2022). "Cloudflare refuses to pull out of Russia, says Putin would celebrate shutoff". Ars Technica. Retrieved 19 April 2022.
  23. ^ Morrow, Allison (26 May 2022). "Crypto is dead. Long live crypto: Davos Dispatch". CNN. Retrieved 26 May 2022.
  24. ^ "CloudFlare Teams Up With 15 NGOs To Protect Citizen Journalists And Activists From DDoS Attacks". TechCrunch. June 12, 2014. Retrieved 2022-06-26.
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