Shopify Bans Some Right-Wing Groups After Activist Pressure
(Bloomberg) -- Shopify Inc. will ban some right-wing organizations from its service after accusations from activists, such as Canadian non-profit group North99, that it was supporting hate-promoting groups.
The Canadian e-commerce company tweaked its rules to allow it to bar anyone who uses Shopify to sell items that support groups that it believes condone hate or violence. The move affects Proud Boys, a right-wing group founded by Gavin McInnes, a Canadian writer and co-founder of Vice Media, that was recently kicked off Facebook and Instagram. The Southern Poverty Law Center classifies Proud Boys as a hate group.
Facebook banned accounts and pages associated with Proud Boys earlier this month after the group was accused of attacking protesters in New York.
“This amendment is a proactive measure on our part to ensure we keep our platform free of anyone seeking to promote hate or violence,” a spokeswoman for Shopify wrote in an email. “We will continue to review new cases as they are reported.”
Shopify, which provides tools to help hundreds of thousands of merchants sell online, has found itself in the midst of political fights before. In August, it banned the sale of some semi-automatic firearms and gun parts, with Chief Executive Officer Tobi Lutke saying neutrality on some issues wasn't possible for the company. Monday's change does not affect the online store of Breitbart, the conservative news site some activists have pressured Shopify to stop serving.
The Ottawa-based company's stock has rocketed more than 700 percent since its initial public offering in May 2015. With the growth has come new scrutiny. Along with political questions about what kinds of products and people to ban from using its service, Shopify has had to develop new tools to stop its stores from being used to defraud consumers.
To contact the reporter on this story: Gerrit De Vynck in New York at gdevynck@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Jillian Ward at jward56@bloomberg.net, Molly Schuetz, Andrew Pollack
©2018 Bloomberg L.P.
-
Indians Stay With Family, Not In Hotels | The Reason Why
India still lacks enough clean, reliable and affordable hotels for budget-conscious travellers.
-
The Economic Imperative: Analysing The Material Driving Force Behind India-Canada Strategic Reset
This economic complementarity is further reinforced by deep institutional investment ties and talent mobility, which form the bedrock of the bilateral framework.
-
Medicine Pricing: Where Must Profit Stop?
India must confront excessive margins, hidden incentives and regulatory gaps that threaten the integrity of medicine.
-
Why Amazon And Flipkart Are Struggling To Beat Meesho In India's Smaller Cities
With 274 million users and lowest-cost logistics, Meesho is defending its value commerce crown against giants like Amazon and Flipkart.
-
High US Salaries, No Green Card Certainty: The Financial Calculation Facing Indian H-1B Families
The suspension of PERM processing at eight technology employers does not cancel existing H-1B visas. What it does is force a question many Indian families have been avoiding: is the US salary worth tying your career and family plans to one employer?
-
Swiggy vs Eternal: Food Delivery's Two Rivals Are No Longer In The Same Race
Eternal is building a private AI assistant, dark.ai. Swiggy is still working out how to make Instamart pay, with an operating loss of Rs 895 crore in the July-September quarter while Blinkit stayed profitable.
-
Where You Live Shapes How You Get To Work | The Reason Why
Two-wheelers are the most popular way to get to work in India, accounting for nearly 43% of workplace commutes.
-
Unhedged Position: Can India See An Indonesia-Style Time Correction?
The Nifty is trading below levels it first clocked in 2024. Is there, then, as I have suggested in the headline, potential that the current time correction drags on painfully for the next three-five, even ten years?
-
Navigating Friction And Energy Realities: An Analysis Of Marco Rubio's October Visit To India
Occurring at a critical juncture marked by stalled trade negotiations and escalating geopolitical pressures over global energy supplies, the visit offers a profound window into modern US-India relations.
-
India Exports Capital. Why Not Export Trusteeship?
The big question, then, is whether India can build an institution that global borrowers, investors, banks, and lawyers can trust, even without an Indian connection.
