GoDaddy drops ‘Miss Hitler’ competition site after outcry
Hosting company says ‘World Truth Historical Revisionism’ domain ‘violated our terms of service’ for hosting Nazi-themed beauty contest
The GoDaddy.com web hosting company said Thursday that it had taken down the domain of the site running the “Miss Hitler 2020” pageant, following pressure from Australia’s Anti-Defamation Commission, a Jewish group aimed at fighting against anti-Semitism and racism.
The competition, run by the so-called World Truth Historical Revisionism website, encourages women to enter by posting sexy Nazi-themed photos together with an entry explaining why they “love and revere the Third Reich of Adolf Hitler.”
“We have suspended the account and informed the account owner to move the domains in question to another registrar, as they have violated our terms of service,” GoDaddy said in a brief statement.
On Sunday, the Anti-Defamation Commission appealed to GoDaddy.com to take down the domain due to its running the neo-Nazi pageant, calling it “an incitement to murder.”
The last two years have seen attempts by neo-Nazis to host the competition largely foiled after reported pressure from Israel convinced the Russian social media network VKontakte (also known as VK) to take down the page.
In previous years women sent in photographs of themselves performing Nazi salutes, at neo-Nazi rallies, or posing with Nazi memorabilia.
Responding to Thursday’s announcement, the Anti-Defamation Commission called the decision “a glorious victory of good over evil,” thanking the company “for declaring that anti-Semites and Holocaust deniers will never find a safe haven within the GoDaddy home.”
The group said that “allowing this site to remain would have crossed many red lines and would have sent the message that it is open season on the Jewish community. With this decision, GoDaddy has chosen morality over profits, and decided to stand with the victims and survivors.”
“All internet giants need to do better in cracking down on Nazi propaganda that glorifies murderous prejudice, and need to address the frequency that such dangerous groups are allowed to register their domains,” the group added in a statement. “Digital hate and terrorism represent one of the most serious threats to our democracy, and GoDaddy must do more in enforcing their own practices in responding to this escalating crisis.”
