In the wake of an influx of white supremacist for the ‘Unite the Right’ rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, vendors are scrambling to ensure that their products and services cannot be used by as a resource for hate groups any longer.
GoDaddy announced that it will boot the Nazi web site The Daily Stormer from its hosting platform. The “publication” — which is really more like one man’s hateful, racist blog — published a vile piece on the counter-protester killed by a domestic terrorist. Her name was Heather Heyer. The Daily Stormer called her a wide range of slurs that do not bear repeating. When it was brought to the attention of GoDaddy that The Daily Stormer was inciting violence, which violates its terms of service, they kicked it off their platform.
Andrew Anglin, the neo-Nazi behind The Daily Stormer, tried to register its domain through Google, but the tech company canceled the registration within hours, citing a terms of service violation.
When Airbnb found out that white supremacists were booking accommodations in Charlottesville through their site, the company canceled the reservations. A company that is all about connecting people for authentic, welcoming local experiences certainly had no interest in sheltering bigots.
Tiki Brand, an American small business that makes backyard tiki torches, was horrified to see its torches used by marchers. The company said it was “deeply saddened and disappointed,” and that “We do not support their message or the use of our products in this way.” Because Tiki Brand sells goods, and not services, it’s harder for the company to control what customers do with its products. Once that torch is sold, it’s out of Tiki Brand’s hands. Something like a web domain or lodging reservation is a service that can be canceled quite simply; snatching back a purchased torch is significantly more difficult.
Employers of the marchers face the challenge of what to do with employees who are known white supremacists. Managers of Top Dog, a hot dog vendor in Berkeley, California, spotted one of their employees in a photo of the march. Upon conversation with the marcher, named Cole White, he resigned from the hot dog store. Good dog!
Is this a violation of these marchers’ first amendment rights? No. Free speech is a right; consequence-free speech is not.
If and when companies start denying service to the alt-right, some fear that the practice would be the start of a slippery slope, leading to companies denying service to anyone with whom they disagree. That’s unlikely to happen. For starters, companies want customers. A customer has to behave in a way that is truly vile (for example, marching in a white supremacist rally) before that customer becomes a liability for the company.
Furthermore, any individual or company in America has the right to free association. No one can be required to enter into a contractual relationship against their will. When no one is willing to host racism either in rental accommodations or on the web, those evil views have fewer resources with which to organize domestic terror events.
