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Uber, Lyft ban far-right activist for anti-Muslim rant

The ride-hailing giants say she violated their community guidelines.

 

Phillip Tracy

Tech

Posted on Nov 2, 2017   Updated on May 22, 2021, 12:23 pm CDT

Uber and Lyft banned a far-right activist after she complained about not being able to find a “non Muslim” cab driver.

Laura Loomer, who calls herself an “investigative journalist,” sacrificed her job on Wednesday because she couldn’t find a ride-hailing driver who didn’t look Muslim. That experience sparked a lengthy anti-Muslim Twitter rant.

“I’m late to the NYPD press conference because I couldn’t find a non Muslim cab or @Uber @lyft driver for over 30 min! This is insanity,” Loomer posted.

She then suggested on Twitter that someone create a non-Muslim version of Uber and Lyft because she doesn’t want to “support another Islamic immigrant driver.”

Uber banned her from the app soon after for violating its community guidelines, according to Business Insider. Those guidelines begin with the heading “Respect each other.” Lyft followed suit on Thursday morning by deactivating her account, reports CNET.

Twitter has, unsurprisingly, not deleted any of her abusive posts.

The ban comes days after the Manhattan terror attack allegedly carried out by former Uber driver Sayfullo Saipov, who is accused of killing eight and injuring a dozen others.

This isn’t the first time Uber has banned a far-right activist. The ride-hailing giant deactivated the account of white supremacist James Allsup following the deadly violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, in August. The company vowed to continue cracking down on white nationalists and hate groups.

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*First Published: Nov 2, 2017, 2:17 pm CDT