The world’s leading white supremacist and neo-Nazi news and commentary website The Daily Stormer has found a home on the regional “.hk” domain, after hosts around the world rejected it for violating their terms of service.
The Hong Kong Internet Registration Corporation (HKIRC), a non-profit which regulates the top-level “.hk” domain, told HKFP on Monday that it is reviewing the situation.
According to publicly available information, the site was registered by Andrew Anglin on November 9. Anglin is the founder of the controversial website, which takes its name from a Nazi WWII-era tabloid called Der Stürmer.
The site hit the headlines in August after it helped organised a far-right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. It insulted a counter-protester who was killed in a vehicle ramming on the day and called on readers to locate and attend her funeral. It insisted she was killed by a weight-related heart attack.
Hours later, domain registrar GoDaddy forced the site to locate a new domain. It attempted to move to Google and Tucows before shifting to the dark web, making it accessible only with specialist software. Facebook, Cloudflare, Twitter and Google’s YouTube have since deleted its accounts, whilst Russian and Albanian registrars have also shunned the site.
According to its registrar agreement, domain names can be suspended or deleted by the HKIRC if they are “likely to damage, adversely affect or prejudice the goodwill, reputation and operation of HKIRC or the internet registration industry in Hong Kong” or if there is a risk of civil or criminal prosecution. The HKIRC is the only entity approved by the government to administer the domain.
According to the US Southern Poverty Law Center, Anglin has stated that “The goal is to ethnically cleanse White nations of non-Whites and establish an authoritarian government. Many people also believe that the Jews should be exterminated.”
The HKIRC told HKFP that the site had been brought to its attention: “We are now reviewing it with various related parties involved. Therefore, it may have to take time – but we will get back to you as soon as possible if there is any update.”
In a statement published in August, US non-profit the Electronic Frontier Foundation raised concerns over free speech after the site struggled to find a new home.
Update 20:30: The HKIRC told HKFP late on Monday that it will remove the site following a review: “HKRIC has been looking into the matter with various related parties, and have decided to take the domain down after review. The domain dailystormer.hk will be suspended within 24 hours.”
