https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-09-04/cloudflare-blocks-site-linked-to-hate-after-weeks-of-pressure?srnd=technology-vp

Cloudflare Inc. blocked Kiwi Farms on Saturday, days after hinting it will continue working with the controversial discussion forum despite weeks of pressure.

The company has blocked Kiwi Farms content from being accessed through its infrastructure after an escalation in rhetoric and “specific, targeted threats” over the past 48 hours, Chief Executive Officer Matthew Prince said in a blog post.

“This is an extraordinary decision for us to make and, given Cloudflare’s role as an internet infrastructure provider, a dangerous one that we are not comfortable with,” Prince said. While we believe “it would have been appropriate as an infrastructure provider for us to wait for legal process, in this case the imminent and emergency threat to human life which continues to escalate causes us to take this action.”

Previously, Cloudflare offered security services to Kiwi Farms. Visitors to Kiwi Farms sites that use any of its services will now see a Cloudflare block page and a link to Prince’s post.

Cloudflare came under pressure to drop Kiwi Farms as a customer after the online forum known for harassment and hate campaigns recently forced a well-known transgender Twitch streamer into hiding.

Kiwi Farms founder Joshua Moon didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. He told Bloomberg News earlier this week that “the forum does not condone behavior besides on-site discussion.”

Users of the site have become even more aggressive following the internet campaign to pressure service providers to block it, Prince said, adding that over the past two weeks, Cloudflare contacted law enforcement in several jurisdictions over “potential criminal acts and imminent threats to human life that were posted to the site.”