Cites Board's Apparent Failure to Address Risks Stemming from Cloudflare's Services Being Used by Websites that Spread Graphic Violence, Extremism, and Foreign Terrorist Content
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jun. 16, 2026--
JLens, a Registered Investment Advisor that empowers investors to align their capital with Jewish values, today urged shareholders of Cloudflare, Inc. (NYSE: NET) (“Cloudflare” or “the Company”) to vote WITHHOLD on the election of two members of the Board of Directors at the Company’s annual meeting, which is scheduled for June 30, 2026.
JLens is recommending that shareholders vote WITHHOLD on the election of Directors Michelle Zatlyn, Cloudflare’s Co-Founder, President and Co-Chair of the Board, and Scott Sandell, the Company’s Lead Independent Director, who have served on the Board since 2009 and 2010, respectively. JLens is urging shareholders to vote WITHHOLD to send a message to the Board that the status quo regarding its extremist content moderation is unacceptable.
In a proxy memorandum published on June 10, 2026, JLens cites multiple oversight deficiencies by the Company’s Board of Directors, noting that the Board has, “failed to provide sufficient oversight of critical risks arising from Cloudflare’s facilitation of websites with content associated with violent extremism, terrorism and real-world harm.”
ADL Report Documents Cloudflare's Services to Extremist and Terrorist Websites
A recent report published by ADL (the Anti-Defamation League), Keeping the Lights On: How Cloudflare Sustains Violent Extremism, Graphic Violence and Terrorism Online, extensively documents Cloudflare’s record of providing critical web services to high-threat sites that peddle violent extremism and terrorism, raising disturbing questions about the effectiveness of the Company’s content policies and their proper enforcement. More specifically, the ADL report found that Cloudflare currently serves as an infrastructure provider to:
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Gore forums like WatchPeopleDie, whose users have been tied to at least six violent attacks worldwide that have killed 12 people and injured scores more in just over two years (see “From Gore to Hate: How “WatchPeopleDie” Serves as a Gateway to Extremism” article for additional background)
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Sites dedicated to violent extremism and white supremacist accelerationism that venerate mass killers and collectively reach thousands of people
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Propaganda outlets for ISIS, a U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organization that has killed thousands in global terror attacks
Across these disparate platforms, antisemitic rhetoric is a recurring theme according to the ADL report, ranging from the tropes and memes of extremist subcultures to explicit calls for violence against Jews found in terrorist propaganda. Cloudflare allows these spaces to maintain their online presence through a broad suite of services, including its widely used Content Delivery Network (CDN), which speeds up website load times by routing visitor traffic to the closest global caching server.
“Cloudflare is actively sustaining the digital infrastructure of gore forums linked to deadly attacks, sites that glorify mass killers, and ISIS propaganda networks,” said Ari Hoffnung, Managing Director of JLens. “While industry peers take action to prohibit content that incites violence and terrorism, Cloudflare hides behind the fiction of neutrality, calling itself a ‘pass-through’ utility to avoid accountability for the hate it keeps online. We’re calling on Cloudflare to implement proactive moderation, because the threats enabled by its platforms are not hypothetical. They are lethal, and we believe they expose the Company and its shareholders to unnecessary risk.”
JLens Opposes Board Nominees for the First Time
While JLens has frequently taken positions opposing proxy proposals that are inconsistent with Jewish values, this is the first time it is urging shareholders to vote against corporate Board members.
Mr. Hoffnung noted, “Due to the severity of this issue, we are taking the exceptional step of urging our fellow shareholders to vote WITHHOLD on two key Board members. Despite the Company’s co-founders controlling a majority of the voting power and, thereby, the election of directors, we believe it is essential that independent shareholders send a clear message to Cloudflare’s Board and senior leadership against dangerous content.”
Industry Peers Prohibit Content That Cloudflare Permits
JLens noted that Cloudflare’s unwillingness to establish clear, proactive boundaries contrasts with competitors that impose more robust guardrails against extremism and terrorism. Some of Cloudflare's competitors, for example, prohibit customers from using their services to “threaten, incite, promote, or actively encourage violence, terrorism, or other serious harm.”
In order to demonstrate its commitment to the standards exhibited by its peers, JLens is calling on the Board to adopt the following five reforms, which are already common among infrastructure peers and increasingly expected by regulators in the United States, the European Union, and the United Kingdom:
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Adopt and enforce an acceptable-use policy prohibiting use of service for websites and/or content dedicated to graphic violence, violent extremism, and terrorism, consistent with Amazon Web Services and other peers;
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Commission and disclose an independent review of sanctions-screening controls;
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Expand transparency reporting to include all abuse reports for "pass-through" services;
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Establish a standing Board-level review of high-threat-customer exposure; and
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Disclose how trust-and-safety, sanctions-compliance, and abuse-response functions will be resourced after the May 2026 workforce reduction, with continued Board-level oversight under the Company’s stated shift to an “agentic AI-first operating model.”
Mr. Hoffnung added, "We believe the Cloudflare Board's inaction on this issue puts shareholder value at risk. We are asking the Board to adopt the governance reforms that peers already have in place: an acceptable-use policy prohibiting service to websites dedicated to graphic violence, violent extremism or terrorism, independent review of sanctions controls, expanded transparency reporting, and standing Board-level oversight of high-threat-customer exposure."
About JLens
Founded in 2012, JLens is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and Registered Investment Advisor that empowers investors to align their capital with Jewish values and advocates for Jewish communal priorities in the corporate arena. The JLens Jewish Investor Network brings together over 40 Jewish institutions holding $15 billion in communal assets. JLens serves as sub-adviser to the JLens 500 Jewish Advocacy U.S. ETF (NYSE: TOV) and has data licensing agreements with select advisers for use in separately managed accounts (SMAs). Over $400 million is invested across the ETF and SMAs (as of 3/31/2026). In 2022, JLens established an affiliation with ADL (the Anti-Defamation League), the leading anti-hate organization in the world. More at www.jlensnetwork.org.
PLEASE NOTE: THIS IS NOT A PROXY SOLICITATION AND NO PROXY CARDS WILL BE ACCEPTED. JLens is not asking for your proxy card and cannot accept your proxy card. Please DO NOT send us your proxy card.
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Media Contacts:
JLens
Dukas Linden Public Relations
JLens@dlpr.com
Source: JLens
