Pantheon is hosting hate groups.
We urge Pantheon to stand up for its own policies and values and terminate contracts with hate groups.
Backstory #
It all started in April 2023 with a LinkedIn post that snowballed to hundreds of comments:
I would love to hear from someone at Pantheon Platform as to why they are hosting a website for the hate group described here.
ArsTechnica picked up the story soon after: WebOps platform Pantheon defends hosting "hate groups" as developers quit.
The developers and other Pantheon supporters commenting had just discovered that the website operations platform—which hosts more than 700,000 websites—is currently hosting websites for hugely influential anti-LGBTQ and anti-immigration organizations that have been designated as hate groups by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC).
What followed was a slow roll of community groups distancing themselves from Pantheon:
At DrupalCon Pittsburgh, Pantheon defended their position during a "Community Roundtable". The Drop Times and community members responded to the "disappointing and unsatisfactory" meeting.
Many community members also stated their position at DrupalCon, sharing the first "No Host For Hate" stickers, not taking Pantheon swag, and hosting counter-programming the Pantheon party.
After DrupalCon, Pantheon published their Open Letter on Elevating Our Standards and their new Acceptable Use Policy, and eventually did not renew ADF's contract.
Today #
Fast-forward to 2024 and we're at it again. Pantheon is hosting The Heritage Foundation and Project 2025 - a project that claims "toxic normalization of transgender-ism" - and again Pantheon have defended their position:
The committee conducted a thorough review as outlined in Section 16 of our AUP and determined that The Heritage Foundation does not violate our policy on "Prohibited Customers." Our AUP defines "Prohibited Customers" in Section 4 to prevent engagement with entities focused on organized hate, election misinformation, climate denial, or fake news. According to our policy, an organization is considered a Prohibited Customer only if their primary activities or focus align with these prohibited categories. Upon evaluating The Heritage Foundation, Pantheon concluded that their activities do not fall under these prohibited categories. While there are some concerns, such as past associations or specific policy proposals, these do not represent the primary focus or majority of their activities.
I know this news might be disappointing, and I'm really sorry that it's not the outcome you were hoping for. If you have any additional thoughts or concerns you would like to share, please email [email protected] so that they can be documented and considered.
Pantheon's AUP claims:
4.Prohibited Customers
Companies, entities, organizations, groups, or others ("organization") are prohibited from using Pantheon's Services if your organization is primarily focused on, engaged in, or supporting:
- Criminal behavior and activity
- Climate change disinformation
- Organized hate
- Fake news organizations
- Voter fraud or disinformation
- A combination of the above
Yet these are ideas are prolific in Project 2025's playbook:
Climate change disinformation
p. 675
[NOAA's 6 offices] form a colossal operation that has become one of the main drivers of the climate change alarm industry and, as such, is harmful to future U.S. prosperity.
Blog post: Hot Summer? Don't Sweat It
Organized hate
p. 4 - Forward
The next conservative President must make the institutions of American civil society hard targets for woke culture warriors. This starts with deleting the terms sexual orientation and gender identity ("SOGI"), diversity, equity, and inclusion ("DEI"), gender, gender equality, gender equity, gender awareness, gender-sensitive, abortion, reproductive health, reproductive rights, and any other term used to deprive Americans of their First Amendment rights out of every federal rule, agency regulation, contract, grant, regulation, and piece of legislation that exists.
Other Hosts #
Acquia was informed of one SPLC-listed hate group on their platform and as of September 2024 has discontinued that relationship.
Action #
- Speak up and voice your concerns to Pantheon. Email [email protected] and include your account representative if you have one.
- If you have an existing contract or partnership with Pantheon, use these channels to express your dissatisfaction.
- Make noise at upcoming Drupal community events and share this story with the community.
We've set up a No Host For Hate swag shop with stickers, shirts, and more. All items are sold at a 0% margin so no revenue comes to anyone in the community from sales.