Gov. Youngkin Responds To Eventbrite
Following the removal of a University of California, Davis event from Eventbrite's website in November, Governor of Virginia Glenn Youngkin has taken action to boycott the popular event platform. The event, featuring Save Women's Sports spokeswoman Riley Gaines, was denied by Eventbrite, citing violations of their "woke community guidelines and terms of service."
According to Eventbrite's notification to the Davis College Republicans, the event was deemed to be in violation of their community guidelines and terms of service, which prohibits content or events that discriminate against, harass, or incite violence against individuals or groups based on their race, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, and other factors. As a result, the event was removed from the platform.
Gaines, who plays a key role in advocating for the protection of women's sports, reacted to the news by calling on supporters to give Eventbrite the "Bud Light treatment." This call to action caught the attention of Governor Youngkin, who has since directed his team to pull all of his events from the platform, citing it as "insane" that Eventbrite would remove an event featuring Gaines, yet allow events promoting support for Hamas to remain on their platform.
Gov. Glenn Youngkin is pulling his event listings off of Eventbrite pic.twitter.com/PniU2DOBsu
— Brandon Jarvis (@Jaaavis) October 30, 2023
Upon further investigation, it was revealed that Eventbrite had allowed events such as "Stop the Genocide! Free Palestine!" and "Carnage in Palestine: Oppression, Complicity, and Ethical Responsibility" to be advertised on their platform. However, these events have now been listed as "unavailable."
In response to the backlash, Eventbrite co-founder, Kevin Hartz, took to Twitter to defend the platform and his stance on the issue. He slammed critics for accusing Eventbrite of supporting "genocidal maniacs" and even made a crude remark to a critic.
In a recent interview on the Clay Travis and Buck Sexton show, Governor Youngkin confirmed that he has directed both his political committee and office staff to remove all events from Eventbrite. He also called on listeners to boycott the platform and not RSVP to any Eventbrite event in order to send a message.
I love all the people in my comments saying they've deleted their Eventbrite account. Give 'em the Bud Light treatment
Newsflash: being a woman and advocating for such isn't a hate crime. pic.twitter.com/EQmh2JbcF1
— Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) October 26, 2023
Fortunately, the event featuring Gaines is still on and the Davis College Republicans have provided a link for interested individuals to sign up. Gaines, who is known for her outspokenness on defending women's sports, has remained resilient and has urged supporters to attend the event.
In conclusion, Governor Youngkin's decision to boycott Eventbrite creates a significant impact, sending a strong message that discriminatory and biased practices will not be tolerated. It also serves as a reminder to event platforms to remain neutral and to not discriminate against individuals or groups based on their beliefs or identity.