For the second time in two months, the Counter Extremism Project (CEP) alerted
print-on-demand platform Spring to a neo-Nazi clothing shop being hoste





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CEP Impact: Spring Removes Second Extreme Right Storefront Following CEP Notice



(New York, N.Y.) — For the second time in two months, the Counter Extremism
Project (CEP) alerted print-on-demand platformSpring <[link removed]>
to a neo-Nazi clothing shop being hosted on its platform, which Spring
subsequently removed.



The first shop located
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by CEP in April was selling merchandise to financially benefit an Austrian
neo-Nazi rapper known as “Mr. Bond,” a.k.a. Philip Hassler, who had recently
been sentenced to 10 years in prison for inciting violence and glorifying
Nazism by an Austrian court. Weeks later, a separate shop affiliated with a
Telegram channel with over 2,800 subscribers selling goods featuring neo-Nazi
and white supremacist iconography and slogans was located by CEP. The shop was
removed after Spring was notified by CEP.



Following CEP's flagging of the second store to Spring in May and its
resulting removal by the platform, the store owner confirmed the store had been
shut down in a Telegram post:



While Spring responded promptly and decisively in removing the offending shops
from its platform, its actions are indicative of a reactive posture, as opposed
to proactive content moderation on its part. The platform’sAcceptable Use Policy
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specifically outlines that Spring does not “allow campaigns that promote or
glorify hatred toward people based on their age, race, ethnicity, national
origin, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability and religion,
including people, organizations or symbols dedicated to hatred against these
groups.” However, the web store was able to operate for almost nine months
before it was located and reported by someone from outside its intended
audience.



CEP’s subject matter expertise and reliable content moderation in each
instance directly resulted in the extremist storefronts’ removal from the
platform, in turn stymying their efforts to further their cause.



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