Clara Sorrenti and her supporters are the face of a campaign to shut down Kiwi Farms. This internet forum doubles as an image-sharing site where users can harass and troll anyone they feel they can. But over the years, the site has turned into an institution for harassment against trans people campaigns, requiring people like Sorrenti to start an effort to shut down the site that is considered a fringe.
Sorrenti has been identified as a Canadian trans Twitch streamer targeted by Kiwi Farms and its deranged followers for exposing her personal data. Before Sorrenti was targeted, a Georgia Republican Senator in Georgia, Marjorie Taylor Greene, was the victim of an incident that involved swatting connected to the website.
Sorrenti and other Trans activists are asking Cloudflare, one of Kiwi Farms’ internet security service providers, to remove the website. But Cloudflare refuses to do it.
In a blog published this week, Cloudfare CEO Mathew Prince and vice president of public policy Alissa Starzak wrote a full-length piece stating that the company is not planning to remove security services from all clients. While they didn’t cite Kiwi Farms in their article, it was clear Cloudfare responded in the wake of recent events.
“Just as the telephone company doesn’t terminate your line if you say awful, racist, bigoted things, we have concluded in consultation with politicians, policymakers and experts that turning off security services because we think what you publish is despicable is the wrong policy,” according to the blog post.
It is noteworthy that Kiwi Farms or CWCki forum is the name it had at the time; it was founded in 2009 by creator Josh Moon, a former administrator at 8chan.
The site features one section dubbed “lolcows” (wordplay made up of “lol” and “cows”) in which anyone can be milked for fun. The section has become a source of hateful campaigns that continue to target some members of people who are trans.
Furthermore, the site serves as an online platform for extremists to promote misinformation and cult-like beliefs. The site was shut down from New Zealand after it hosted the terrifying Christchurch terror video.
Similar to the Christchurch terrorist video, it was also banned in Australia. But, once the website deleted the video, it was allowed to continue operating. According to a Vie article, at least three people have died by suicide following being the targets of the Kiwi Farms harassment campaign.
Update:
Matthew Prince on sunday said in a tweet and a blog post that the company had reversed its decision.
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