Shopify has reversed course on their commitment to free speech, effectively implementing a commercial de-platforming of gun companies on their site. Landing a gut-punch to free speech and the Second Amendment, the massive Canada-based commerce platform serving some 600,000-plus merchants abruptly shifted policy to include bans on dozens of guns and gun-related products, including DIY kits and gun blueprints.
Shopify revised their Acceptable Use Policy on Monday to include a sales embargo on certain semi-automatic firearms, unfinished lower receivers, unserializedfirearms, magazines capable of accepting more than 10 rounds, and many more products (view the list, here).
In a press release to The Daily Wire, Florida-based gun manufacturer Spike’s Tactical said “the new rules will essentially shut down the sale of guns, gun parts and accessories over the internet by retailers who use Shopify.”
“This decision will have significant ramifications to our business and should concern every online retailer and Second Amendment supporter,” warned Spike’s Tactical GM Cole Leleux.
The company conducts millions of dollars in sales via the platform annually. “We have invested more than $100,000 in the development of our Shopify store, which will disappear once these policies go into effect,” Leleux said. – READ MORE
[divider][/divider]Facebook and Amazon have completely censored access to a website that publishes 3-D-printed gun design blueprints, a gun rights group says.
According to Brandon Combs, president of the Firearms Policy Coalition, links to the website CodeIsFreeSpeech.com have been blocked on all Facebook platforms and Amazon is no longer hosting the site on its servers.
“It was humans involved with Amazon just like in Facebook. This is not an algorithm-based issue, they were making human policy decisions,” Combs told The Washington Free Beacon.
Combs was clear that the Facebook ban was extensive. When users attempt to share links to the website or to the gun blueprints, they receive error messages and the posts are not visible on their timelines.
“Facebook did not just block CodeIsFreeSpeech.com prospectively,” he said. “Facebook forced a company-wide (Facebook, Messenger, Instagram) takedown of content about and inclusive of CodeIsFreeSpeech.com. Facebook banned the URL throughout their products. I even tried to setup Facebook for Work. But even that platform banned discussion of CodeIsFreeSpeech.com. What we are experiencing is a complete ban on CodeIsFreeSpeech.com — not a ‘shadow ban,’ not a reduced newsfeed presence, but a complete ban.” – READ MORE
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