Ottawa-based Shopify has taken U.S. President Donald Trump’s stores offline, following the violent siege of the Capitol on January 6th.
The two stores that were terminated sold “Make AmericaA Great Again” hats and other related merchandise. Shopify says that it shut down the stores because Trump’s actions went against its policies.
“Shopify does not tolerate actions that incite violence. Based on recent events, we have determined that the actions by President Donald J. Trump violate our acceptable use policy, which prohibits promotion or support of organizations, platforms or people that threaten or condone violence to further a cause,” it said in a statement.
Shopify isn’t the only digital platform to implement restrictions following the events that took place at the Capital, as Facebook has decided to ban Trump‘s account indefinitely.
“We believe the risks of allowing President Trump to continue to use our service during this period are simply too great,” Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a statement. The company will ban Trump’s account for at least two weeks until after Joe Biden’s inauguration.
Facebook is the first social media platform to extend its temporary ban on Trump’s account. He was temporarily banned from Twitter and Snapchat, and it’s unclear if these platforms will follow Facebook and extend their measures.
The actions from Shopify and other tech giants face increased criticism for their role in the spread of propaganda, hate speech and misinformation.
Via: The Canadian Press