Web hosting company GoDaddy says it will no longer provide service to the neo-Nazi site The Daily Stormer after it posted an article that mocked the anti-hate crusader killed in Charlottesville, Va.
The world’s largest internet domain seller has been blasted for hosting a domain name for a website “dedicated to spreading anti-Semitism, neo-Nazism, and white nationalism,” according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, the Arizona Republic reported.
On Sunday, The Daily Stormer published an article using sexist and obscene language about Heather Heyer, 32, who was mowed down by a car driven by an alleged white supremacist.
“We informed The Daily Stormer that they have 24 hours to move the domain to another provider, as they have violated our terms of service,” GoDaddy tweeted late Sunday after activist Amy Siskind tweeted a reference to the offensive article.
Siskind had tweeted at GoDaddy about an article by Daily Stormer founder Andrew Anglin about Heyer’s physical appearance and what the site depicted as her anti-white male views, the Washington Post reported.
In the Daily Stormer story, Angelin described Heyer as dying in a “road age incident” – saying the “fat” and “childless” woman was a “drain on society.”
“Most people are glad she is dead,” he wrote.
“@GoDaddy you host The Daily Stormer — they posted this on their site,” Siskind tweeted in a post that was shared more than 5,000 times. “Please retweet if you think this hate should be taken down & banned.”
GoDaddy spokesman told the Washington Post that The Daily Stormer violated the terms of service because “we believe this type of article could incite additional violence.”
Shortly after GoDaddy tweeted its decision, the site posted an article claiming it had been hacked – but one of The Daily Stormer’s contributors said that post was just a prank.
“We’re a convivial publication. We have a lot of fun with it,” said Andrew Auernheimer, a notorious hacker and internet troll who writes for the site.
The Daily Stormer’s home page featured a takeover claim supposedly by hacking group Anonymous.
“THIS SITE IS NOW UNDER THE CONTROL OF ANONYMOUS,” the post read Monday, along with an image of someone in a Guy Fawkes mask.
“WE HAVE TAKEN THIS SITE IN THE NAME OF HEATHER HEYER A VICTIM OF WHITE SUPREMACIST TERRORISM.”
But a major Anonymous-affiliated Twitter account questioned the legitimacy of the Daily Stormer’s supposed hack.
“We have no confirmation that ‘Anonymous’ is involved yet,” @YourAnonNews tweeted. “Looks more like a DS stunt. Wonder if they are having issues finding a new host.”
The Stormer and other sites that advocated racist or anti-Semitic views have registered domain names with GoDaddy using a privacy service called Domains by Proxy that is affiliated with GoDaddy, the Daily Beast reported last month.
GoDaddy has previously said that the content, however “tasteless” and “ignorant,” is protected by the First Amendment, the Washington Post reported.
James Alex Fields Jr., 20, of Ohio, is charged with one count of second-degree murder, three counts of malicious wounding and another count related to the hit-and-run, police said.
Meanwhile, posts on the Stormer early Monday claimed the mysterious web-hacking group Anonymous had seized control of the white supremacist website, but Anonymous later disputed the claim.
The Daily Stormer has been identified by the Southern Poverty Law Center as the “top hate site in America,” and publishes content disparaging Jewish people, people of color Muslims and women.
GoDaddy, founded in 1997 and based in Scottsdale, Ariz., has about 6,000 employees worldwide, according to Reuters.