US cyber security firm Cloudflare will terminate online message board 8chan as its customer after a shooter used the messaging forum just before killing 20 people at a Walmart store in El Paso, Texas on Saturday.
Law enforcement agencies respond to an active shooter at a Wal-Mart near Cielo Vista Mall in El Paso, Texas. Photo: AFP
The shooter is believed to have posted a four-page statement on 8chan.
The suspect was officially identified as a 21-year-old white male from Allen, Texas, a Dallas suburb some 1046 kilometres east of El Paso, which lies along the Rio Grande, across the US-Mexico border from Ciudad Juarez. Citing law enforcement officials, multiple news media reports have named.
The suspect's post on 8chan expressed support for the gunman accused of killing 51 people at two mosques in Christchurch in March.
"We just sent a notice that we are terminating 8chan as a customer effective at midnight tonight Pacific Time," Cloudflare chief executive officer Matthew Prince said in a blog post.
"Based on evidence we've seen, it appears that he [gunman] posted a screed to the site immediately before beginning his terrifying attack on the El Paso Walmart, killing 20 people," Mr Prince said.
Mr Prince's blog added that while 8chan did not violate law by not moderating the "hate-filled" content posted by its users, it has "created an environment that revels in violating its spirit".
Cloudflare provides services which stop attacks to a website, known as DDoS - Distributed Denial of Service.
In New Zealand, the Office of Film & Literature Classification has welcomed the move, tweeting that "hatred like this does not need to be tolerated on the internet, or anywhere".
After publication by 8Chan of yet another manifesto we welcome CloudFlare's decision to stop services to 8Chan, which had “repeatedly proven itself to be a cesspool of hate”. Hatred like this does not need to be tolerated on the internet, or anywhere. https://t.co/IUqPeUzDpQ
— Office of Film & Lit Classification (@NZOFLC) August 5, 2019
- Reuters
