Teespring, the popular drop-shipping service for t-shirts and other merchandise, has banned all Antifa-related merchandise.
“Teespring is not a fascist company,” the company wrote in a statement on Twitter. “Due to the recent increase of violent Antifa content, we have removed all Antifa related listings until we are able to review the intent behind the designs.”
Teespring is not a fascist company. Due to the recent increase of violent Antifa content, we have removed all Antifa related listings until we are able to review the intent behind the designs. Reviewing this content will take some time, so we appreciate your understanding.
— Teespring (@teespring) August 7, 2020
The company put out the message last night after far-left activists complained that their items were getting delisted and removed by the website. Teespring sent out notifications to numerous users, stating that “the word Antifa is in violation of our acceptable use policy and not permitted on Teespring.”
An account called Antifa International, with over 28,000 followers, asked Teespring why it had shut down their fundraiser in a long thread detailing the company’s new policy. It claims that Teespring removed similar shirts in previous years, including one that had the words “this hammer smashes fascists!”
“If @teespring doesn't want anti-fascists to use their platform, they should be honest about their reasons. Not doing so leads one to speculate about what side they're on in the fight against bigotry, fascism, and hatred,” the Antifa account wrote.
In response to Teespring’s statement, the company faced a barrage of criticism from Antifa-aligned accounts accusing them of being “fascists” for refusing to provide its platform to the violent, extremist movement.
“It's 2020,” wrote Antifa International. “If your company has to publicly state ‘we're not a fascist company; we've just removed anything that says antifa on it,’ while continuing to sell stuff that supports fascist groups, you're not really convincing anyone of your non-fascist credentials.”
Perhaps it’s time for the communists to seize the means of production and take their protests to Teespring’s headquarters. It would take less work than establishing their own printing press, surely.