(Bloomberg)—Shopify Inc. said it shut down ecommerce stores affiliated with President Donald Trump in response to the storming of the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters.
“We have terminated stores affiliated with President Trump,” a company spokeswoman said by email. “Shopify does not tolerate actions that incite violence.” The shutdown affects the Trump Organization’s official store, TrumpStore.com, and a campaign store, shop.donaldjtrump.com, the spokeswoman said.
The Canadian company’s decision follows a move by the largest social media platforms to freeze Trump’s accounts for the first time. Facebook Inc. said it was extending a ban on the president’s posts on Facebook and Instagram “indefinitely” and for at least two weeks, until Joe Biden is inaugurated. Snap Inc. and Twitter Inc. have also suspended Trump’s accounts.
At Trump’s urging, his supporters overran Capitol Hill on Wednesday, forcing officials to evacuate and delaying Congress’s formal certification of Biden as the next president.
Trump’s actions violate Shopify’s “acceptable use policy,” the spokeswoman said, “which prohibits promotion or support of organizations, platforms or people that threaten or condone violence to further a cause.”
“Since 2016, all brands and retailers have operated in a much more politically charged environment. The old-school strategy of remaining on the sidelines is no longer tenable in most cases,” says Greg Sterling, vice president of insights at marketing platform Uberall. “From one point of view, Shopify is simply enforcing its anti-violence policy. But the company also sees exposure in being associated with the Trump brand, which has now become synonymous with chaos and violence. That’s not something Shopify wants to be associated with.”
Ottawa-based Shopify is Canada’s most valuable company. It began in 2004 as a web service provider to small companies, helping them build websites to sell to customers directly. As the ecommerce market has expanded, so have its tools and services, and the company now attracts large merchants as well.
Trump merchandise was still available on Amazon.com Inc. and EBay Inc.