[ad_1]
Over the past week, backlash erupted on LinkedIn, in a thread where passionate open source developers began criticizing Pantheon. 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).
The controversy sparked after a digital strategist, Greg Dunlap, posted a link to SPLC’s page designating a Christian conservative legal advocacy group, Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), as a hate group for its views on the LGBTQ community. On the page, SPLC described ADF as supporting “recriminalization of sexual acts between consenting LGBTQ adults in the US and criminalization abroad,” defending “state-sanctioned sterilization of trans people abroad,” and claiming that a “homosexual agenda” will “destroy Christianity and society.”
In his LinkedIn post, Dunlap tagged Pantheon co-founders Josh Koenig and Zack Rosen, and asked them why Pantheon is hosting a website for the alleged hate group. ADF also has ties to high-ranking Republicans and has influenced Supreme Court opinions (including the decision to overturn Roe v. Wade).
Before the founders could respond to Dunlap, several Pantheon supporters began voicing their concerns in the thread, including pointing out that Pantheon also hosts the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR). SPLC designated FAIR as a hate group for having “ties to white supremacist groups and eugenicists” and making “many racist statements.” Among Pantheon supporters expressing disappointment in Pantheon hosting these designated hate groups were customers who said their organizations were now seeking alternative hosting services. There were also developers, known as “Pantheon Heroes,” who…
..
[ad_2]
