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GoDaddy boots Texas abortion “whistleblower” site for violating privacy rule

51 points by ctoth 5y ago

legostormtroopr 5y ago
Mandatory disclaimer: I’m very pro-choice. This feels like an action that will make GoDaddy popular on the left, but again is murky territory when it domes to publisher vs platform. It looks like GoDaddy isn’t even using their own policy correctly, as the pro-life site isn’t collecting private information, it’s just encouraging people to report via the official government sites. I miss the old days of hosting providers being neutral and just hosting material and removing illegal content after contact by the appropriate authorities. Activist corporations may be popular when they advocate for causes we like, but make it difficult to know what they do allow. In this case the pro-life organisation, while they are jerks, are just advocating a cause GoDaddy disagrees with without actually violating a policy - while begs the question, what other political causes will GoDaddy ban you for supporting?
- eklbt 5y ago
  I always find it funny when I see the same people complain about companies lobbying for legislation and then cheer on this behavior.
  - dane-pgp 5y ago
    Surely you can see the difference between a company trying to change legislation and a company choosing its customers? Even if you think that corporations should be allowed to influence legislation just as its individual employees can (if they are citizens), it's much easier to boycott a company whose policies you don't like than to boycott the laws of a government you don't like. (In case the downvoters are incorrectly inferring my opinion on these matters, I should say that I'm not trying to make an argument in support of either corporate lobbying or corporate censorship).
    - moralestapia 5y ago
      >a company choosing its customers ??? But they literally just banned one of them ...
      - perl4ever 5y ago
        "Banning" a customer is a way of saying "choosing" only possibly implying a monopoly, right? Of course, they don't have a monopoly, so "choosing" seems like a better word to me.
- godshatter 5y ago
  > are just advocating a cause GoDaddy disagrees with without actually violating a policy For all we know they may not even disagree with it and can just see which way the wind is blowing. Which would be even worse, if true.
- _-david-_ 5y ago
  >what other political causes will GoDaddy ban you for supporting? They already kicked off some progun website.
zthrowaway 5y ago
I hope someone is maintaining a list of these companies that do stunts like this in reaction to politics. Because I don’t want to be a customer of theirs ever, whether I agree or disagree with what they support. It shows they value being part of the political culture war over providing a good service to any customer.
- greyivy 5y ago
  Conversely, many of us would appreciate a list of companies who have solid values and aren't afraid to take a stand against oppressive institutions like the Texas government. I'd never use GoDaddy for many reasons, but good on them for not caving to the "free speech at any cost" crowd.
  - ekianjo 5y ago
    > solid values You mean values that change over time and along with fashion? That's the opposite of "solid".
    - greyivy 5y ago
      Values are supposed to evolve over time. It would be an issue if they went back on this, however. We'll see what happens.
  - Dracophoenix 5y ago
    Question: How would you feel about ICANN or root server owners like Verisign or Network Solutions retracting IPs and domain names from governments and organizations for actions they don't like? Under §230, they're obviously entitled to do so.
    - greyivy 5y ago
      Its nuanced and it really depends on what they're removing, why they're removing it, and how it will affect people in the end. A corporation removing a site with the goal of stripping vulnerable women of their reproductive rights and and policing their bodily autonomy by reporting them to the state is something I support 110%. HN is all about fighting institutions that are actively eroding our right to privacy until said institutions set their crosshairs on women (or other minority groups). It's tiring.
playguardin 5y ago
Go Texas. Save the babies!

51 points by ctoth 5y ago

Mandatory disclaimer: I’m very pro-choice. This feels like an action that will make GoDaddy popular on the left, but again is murky territory when it domes to publisher vs platform. It looks like GoDaddy isn’t even using their own policy correctly, as the pro-life site isn’t collecting private information, it’s just encouraging people to report via the official government sites. I miss the old days of hosting providers being neutral and just hosting material and removing illegal content after contact by the appropriate authorities. Activist corporations may be popular when they advocate for causes we like, but make it difficult to know what they do allow. In this case the pro-life organisation, while they are jerks, are just advocating a cause GoDaddy disagrees with without actually violating a policy - while begs the question, what other political causes will GoDaddy ban you for supporting?

eklbt 5y ago
I always find it funny when I see the same people complain about companies lobbying for legislation and then cheer on this behavior.
- dane-pgp 5y ago
  Surely you can see the difference between a company trying to change legislation and a company choosing its customers? Even if you think that corporations should be allowed to influence legislation just as its individual employees can (if they are citizens), it's much easier to boycott a company whose policies you don't like than to boycott the laws of a government you don't like. (In case the downvoters are incorrectly inferring my opinion on these matters, I should say that I'm not trying to make an argument in support of either corporate lobbying or corporate censorship).
  - moralestapia 5y ago
    >a company choosing its customers ??? But they literally just banned one of them ...
    - perl4ever 5y ago
      "Banning" a customer is a way of saying "choosing" only possibly implying a monopoly, right? Of course, they don't have a monopoly, so "choosing" seems like a better word to me.
godshatter 5y ago
> are just advocating a cause GoDaddy disagrees with without actually violating a policy For all we know they may not even disagree with it and can just see which way the wind is blowing. Which would be even worse, if true.
_-david-_ 5y ago
>what other political causes will GoDaddy ban you for supporting? They already kicked off some progun website.

zthrowaway 5y ago

I hope someone is maintaining a list of these companies that do stunts like this in reaction to politics. Because I don’t want to be a customer of theirs ever, whether I agree or disagree with what they support. It shows they value being part of the political culture war over providing a good service to any customer.

greyivy 5y ago
Conversely, many of us would appreciate a list of companies who have solid values and aren't afraid to take a stand against oppressive institutions like the Texas government. I'd never use GoDaddy for many reasons, but good on them for not caving to the "free speech at any cost" crowd.
- ekianjo 5y ago
  > solid values You mean values that change over time and along with fashion? That's the opposite of "solid".
  - greyivy 5y ago
    Values are supposed to evolve over time. It would be an issue if they went back on this, however. We'll see what happens.
- Dracophoenix 5y ago
  Question: How would you feel about ICANN or root server owners like Verisign or Network Solutions retracting IPs and domain names from governments and organizations for actions they don't like? Under §230, they're obviously entitled to do so.
  - greyivy 5y ago
    Its nuanced and it really depends on what they're removing, why they're removing it, and how it will affect people in the end. A corporation removing a site with the goal of stripping vulnerable women of their reproductive rights and and policing their bodily autonomy by reporting them to the state is something I support 110%. HN is all about fighting institutions that are actively eroding our right to privacy until said institutions set their crosshairs on women (or other minority groups). It's tiring.

playguardin 5y ago

Go Texas. Save the babies!