Uber and Lyft, two of the major ride-hailing companies in the world, have banned Laura Loomer from their platform. Loomer is a far-right commentator and activist who complained that she couldn’t find non-Muslim drivers on the platforms.
The comments came just after the New York City terrorist attack where a Muslim man rammed a hired pickup truck into city residents, killing 8 and injuring 12 others. The man who carried out the attack was identified by security agencies as a former Uber driver.
A statement released by Uber confirmed that Laura Loomer was barred from using their service because of violating Uber’s community guidelines. Lyft soon followed suit saying that Loomer’s account had been deactivated. Following the New York City attack, the far-right activist posted a series of tweets targeting Muslims in the city.
In one of her tweets, Loomer stated that someone needed to find a non-Islamic form of Uber or Lyft. She added that she doesn’t want to support another Islamic immigrant driver. In another tweet, the former project VERITAS activist said that she tries very hard not to support Muslim-owned businesses in New York.
“Nearly every cab @uber @lift driver in NYC is Muslim. It’s so unfortunate, and this is a conversation we must have” she said in another tweet.
But that was not the end. The right-wing commentator was quoted in another tweet saying that she was running late to an NYPD press conference because she couldn’t find a non-Muslim Uber driver. She also retweeted a tweet from another user who claimed that they have been kicked out of an Uber just because they were Jewish. Uber did not make a comment on the tweet.
The tweets sparked massive outrage online and it that seems the ride-hailing companies have seen it fit to act. It’s not the first time, however, that Uber is banning a far right-wing activist from its platform.
Early this year, the ride-hailing service also banned Tim Gionet, a far-right provocateur, after the white nationalist protests that rocked Charlottesville, Virginia. Three people were killed in the fracas with 36 other sustaining injuries.
Uber said at the time that the ban on Gionet, who is better known as Baked Alaska, was occasioned by a complaint made by one of its drivers. The Uber driver accused Gionet of making racially charged remarks towards her. Gionet was kicked out of the car.
The ban on Laura Loomer is definitely a big statement from Uber and Lyft. It’s clear that the ride-hailing companies will not allow any kind of intolerance, especially towards its drivers. Loomer who has over 100,000 followers on Twitter has not responded to the ban but going by how active she’s been on this matter over the last few weeks, it will be a surprise if she doesn’t. The bans by Lyft and Uber are presumably lifetime bans although the two ride-hailing companies have not specified it.
