News and Commentary

Shopify Pulls Trump Campaign, Trump Organization Online Stores; Claims Trump Condoned ‘Violence’

   DailyWire.com
WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 06: President Donald Trump greets the crowd at the "Stop The Steal" Rally on January 06, 2021 in Washington, DC. Trump supporters gathered in the nation's capital today to protest the ratification of President-elect Joe Biden's Electoral College victory over President Trump in the 2020 election. (Photo by Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)
Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images

The online retail platform Shopify has shut down online stores for any entity affiliated with President Trump, claiming that the president has violated its standards for threatening or condoning violence.

Shopify announced the move on Thursday following a Wednesday riot by a pro-Trump crowd in the Capitol over the results of the election. Online stores for Trump’s campaign and the Trump Organization, which is largely a real estate company, were shut down on Thursday.

Trump had spoken to a crowd of protesters in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday morning, urging them to march to the Capitol and “fight” to overturn the results of the election, which Trump has consistently claimed was “stolen.” The president later made repeated calls for peace after violence broke out.

A Shopify representative told The New York Times that the company “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,” the Shopify representative said. “As a result, we have terminated stores affiliated with President Trump.”

The representative did not say how many online stores would be affected.

Shopify’s action against the president follows similar moves by the social media companies Twitter and Facebook. Twitter locked Trump’s personal account for 12 hours on Wednesday night.

“As a result of the unprecedented and ongoing violent situation in Washington, D.C., we have required the removal of three @realDonaldTrump Tweets that were posted earlier today for repeated and severe violations of our Civic Integrity policy,” Twitter said in a statement.

“This means that the account of @realDonaldTrump will be locked for 12 hours following the removal of these Tweets. If the Tweets are not removed, the account will remain locked,” the statement continued. “Future violations of the Twitter Rules, including our Civic Integrity or Violent Threats policies, will result in permanent suspension of the @realDonaldTrump account.”

Facebook, which also owns Instagram, announced on Thursday that the company would be limiting Trump’s use of both the platforms until the end of the term. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said he decided to take action after making the judgment that Trump was attempting to “undermine” a peaceful transfer of power to President-elect Joe Biden.

“The shocking events of the last 24 hours clearly demonstrate that President Donald Trump intends to use his remaining time in office to undermine the peaceful and lawful transition of power to his elected successor, Joe Biden,” Zuckerberg said. “His decision to use his platform to condone rather than condemn the actions of his supporters at the Capitol building has rightly disturbed people in the US and around the world. We removed these statements yesterday because we judged that their effect — and likely their intent — would be to provoke further violence.”

“We believe the risks of allowing the President to continue to use our service during this period are simply too great,” he added. “Therefore, we are extending the block we have placed on his Facebook and Instagram accounts indefinitely and for at least the next two weeks until the peaceful transition of power is complete.”

Got a tip worth investigating?

Your information could be the missing piece to an important story. Submit your tip today and make a difference.

Submit Tip
The Daily Wire   >  Read   >  Shopify Pulls Trump Campaign, Trump Organization Online Stores; Claims Trump Condoned ‘Violence’