Corporate America is acting swiftly amid the ongoing political firestorm over race relations sparked by a white nationalist rally in Virginia last weekend that turned fatal.
Several companies and corporate leaders have publicly condemned the actions and ideology of hate groups. But at least 11 firms have gone a step further, making concerted efforts to ensure their services are not being used by the people espousing those philosophies.
The list is expanding quickly, with more corporate leaders choosing to take a stand every day. But as of now, here’s who’s telling hate groups to take a hike.
GoDaddy
Shortly after neo-Nazi website The Daily Stormer posted an article denigrating counter-protester Heather Heyer, who was killed in Charlottesville, the Web hosting company gave the site 24 hours to move its domain to another provider. The Website chose Google — but didn’t stay there for long.
The Internet giant quickly stopped providing service to The Daily Stormer, citing its terms of service. The domain was registered with Google shortly before 8 a.m. California time; the company announced plans to revoke it at 10:56 a.m. The group later tried to have a Russian Internet server host the site, but even that was short-lived, as Roskomnadzor, the Russian government’s media and telecommunication watchdog, ordered its removal.
Apple
The tech giant has reportedly disabled Apple Pay support for websites that sell neo-Nazi paraphernalia, including clothing with Nazi and white pride logos and a bumper sticker which reportedly showed a car hitting stick figure demonstrators, apparently a reference to the way in which Heyer was killed. Apple CEO Tim Cook has also criticized President Trump for failing to strongly condemn the hate groups.
Cloudflare
The world’s preeminent provider of protection against distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks has said it will no longer defend The Daily Stormer. The company says it has taken steps to ensure the site can never sign up for Cloudflare’s services again. “We could not remain neutral after these claims of secret support by Cloudflare,” said CEO Matthew Prince in a blog post.
Airbnb
Days before the Charlottesville rally, Airbnb stood up to hate groups, canceling the accounts of attendees who had rented lodging in the area, citing its terms of service. In a follow-up statement, CEO Brian Chesky said “The violence, racism and hatred demonstrated by Neo-Nazis, the alt-right, and white supremacists should have no place in this world... Airbnb will continue to stand for acceptance and we will continue to do all we can to enforce our community commitment.”
PayPal
White nationalist groups, including white supremacist Richard Spencer’s National Policy Institute, reportedly used the payment service prior to the march in Charlottesville. As of Wednesday, the donation page for that group was unable to accept donations via PayPal.
“Regardless of the individual or organization in question, we work to ensure that our services are not used to accept payments or donations for activities that promote hate, violence or racial intolerance,” PayPal said in a statement. “This includes organizations that advocate racist views, such as the KKK, white supremacist groups or Nazi groups.”
Discover Financial Services
The credit card processor has terminated merchant agreements with hate groups following this weekend’s violence, it said in a statement. “The intolerant and racist views of hate groups are inconsistent with our beliefs and practices. While we do not share their opinions, we recognize their right to voice them, no matter how reprehensible we find them,” the company said.
Visa
The credit card company announced Wednesday it was ceasing financial service support with a number of sites that had ties to hate groups as part of a broader review. However, the company said that it does not “restrict transactions that are legal and involve free speech or lawful expression of views, even if we may find the organization or its positions to be offensive.”
Spotify
The streaming music service removed dozens of white supremacist bands after learning of their presence in its catalog. The company says it’s “urgently reviewing” other possible offenders as well. Spotify noted its policy that “Illegal content or material that favors hatred or incites violence against race, religion, sexuality or the like is not tolerated by us.”
Discord
This chat application was a favorite of white supremacists before Charlottesville. But on Monday, the company shut down a hate group server and related accounts, including those associated with Spencer and his website.
“We will continue to take action against white supremacy, Nazi ideology, and all forms of hate,” the company said in a statement on Twitter.
GoFundMe
The fund raising site shut down a campaign to raise financial support for James Fields, the man accused of driving his car into counter-protesters Saturday and killing Heyer. The company says none of the campaigns, which number fewer than 10, have raised any money and it continues to keep a close eye out for other attempts.
