Cloudflare looks like it’s back on its way decision not to block troll sites (opens in a new tab) who use its services announcing the blocking of the notorious Kiwi Farms forum.
The site, widely known for harassing minority social groups, will now be blocked from using any of Cloudflare’s services, CDN (opens in a new tab) supplier confirmed.
However, Cloudflare says the decision is not only unusual, but also a potentially dangerous move that the company is not necessarily comfortable with.
Blocking troll sites
Blocking Cloudflare Kiwi Farms does not mean that the forum will remain completely inaccessible as the website owner may still choose to transfer the website to another provider which will allow it to return online.
According Washington Post (opens in a new tab)Cloudflare chief executive Matthew Prince said the change of mind was not based on an increase in pressure from a campaign calling the site to block Kiwi farms, but rather on “an increase in credible threats of violence emanating from the site”.
Cloudflare previously provided security services to Kiwi farms protecting them from DDoS and other cyber attacks, but was not hosting (opens in a new tab) supplier.
“As we highlighted last Wednesday, we don’t think the termination of security services is appropriate, even for offensive content,” Prince said in blog post (opens in a new tab).
“In a world that respects the law, the answer to even illegal content is not to use other illegal means such as DDoS attacks silence it. The policy we formulated last Wednesday remains our policy. We still believe that the best way to throw cyberattacks on the dustbin of history is by giving everyone the tools to prevent them. “
Prince adds that law enforcement is involved in solving problems caused by the Kiwi farms, but believes the police are not acting fast enough to provide a permanent solution to the trolling forum issues.
Cloudflare believes its action to lock down the Kiwi farms could add even more tension, and is concerned that a troll forum could explode after this decision.
The company also reiterated that Kiwi Farms could get back online with a different provider, as was the case with the Daily Stormer and 8chan sites previously blocked by Cloudflare in the past.