Snitches get… snitched on. And sold, by the looks of it. "Cancel the Hate," an app conservatives are using to help identify and harass people who criticize or mock far-right influencer Charlie Kirk, leaked users' data and preceded an "influx of donation requests."
Described as part of a "broader effort among conservatives to punish those who have criticized Kirk" after he was shot dead at a college speaking event in Utah, the app appears to function as a database of both targets and users. It was hastily produced by a conservative activist previously known for selling "fentanyl testing kits with Roseanne Barr, vaccine skeptic Dr. Robert Malone and right-wing journalist Lara Logan."
Cancel the Hate says users who submit data on others will not have their own personal details made public. However, a social media-style app launched alongside the website appears to have been exposing just that.
The flaw in the app, discovered by the security researcher who identifies himself as "BobDaHacker," enabled the exposure of user information such as email addresses and phone numbers. Although email addresses were included in profile bios by default, seemingly unbeknownst to many of the platform's users, the data could still be exposed even if privacy settings were enabled to keep it hidden.
SAN reached out to Cancel the Hate over a contact form on its website to inquire about the vulnerabilities in the app but did not receive a reply.
The webpage hosting the app was taken offline several hours later, but not before SAN was able to obtain a copy
Failing to respond to security researchers, continued operation after the problem was disclosed… grim stuff. Many will be tempted by schadenfreude, the thought that the users deserve what was (and apparently still is being) done to them. But that would be victim-blaming. Consider also that it further publicizes the data of those targeted. According to SAN, other undisclosed vulnerabilities remain and they have been unable to contact the app's publisher.
The user, who asked to remain anonymous over fears of retribution, expressed concerns that Cancel the Hate might be a "scam" after receiving an influx of donation requests to their email.
Bolding mine. App users fearing retribution? This is all getting quite out of hand.
Previously:
• FactCheck.org finds that Charlie Kirk said most of those things blowing up online
• Washington Post fires black woman who quoted what Charlie Kirk said about black women
• Jimmy Kimmel taken off the air after comments made about Charlie Kirk
• Teaser of Indiana Jones mocking fascists in 1937 removed after complaint it somehow about Charlie Kirk
