Breitbart’s merchandise reflects its style of journalism. From T-shirts telling migrants to “get in line” to hefty silver belt buckles which say “Unapologetically American” to beer holders which declare “Breitbart border control”, the far-right news site’s burgeoning merchandise collection is as inflammatory in tone as its headlines.

For this reason, Shopify, a Canadian e-commerce platform which hosts Breitbart News’ shop on their platform, is coming under strain from its employees and campaigners.

Roughly two dozen protesters gathered outside Shopify’s headquarters in Ottawa on Thursday to deliver a petition with almost 200,000 signatures. Presenting the tech company with an open letter, SumOfUs, a consumer-watchdog organisation leading the campaign, accused the tech company of “bankrolling hate speech”.

“Shopify is literally profiting off the merchandise sold in Breitbart's store, and thus profiting off Breitbart's message,” Emma Pullman, lead campaign strategist of SumOfUs, told The Independent.

“It has a simple choice to make: be complicit in white supremacy or hate, or not. Right now it's choosing to be complicit.”

Breitbart News, the most widely-read Conservative site in the US, was founded by conservative commentator Andrew Breitbart in 2007 and was later expanded by senior Trump aide Steve Bannon.

The chief strategist, who is a former executive chairman of the site, declared the publication "the platform for the alt-right” after taking the reins around four years ago and transforming the agenda from ultra-conservatism to anti-establishment, anti-immigrant, nationalist and overtly pro-Trump during the presidential election.

“Breitbart is a platform for white nationalists who are trying to rebrand themselves as the ‘alt-right’, and has ambitions to export this hateful rhetoric around the world,” Ms Pullman said. “This rhetoric denigrates women, trans people, people of colour, refugees and immigrants.”

Shopify CEO, Tobias Lutke, has pushed back at pressure for the company to pull its links with Breitbart. Writing in a Medium post last month, Lutke said that while he does not support the opinions espoused by the site, he believes in protecting their right to free speech.

The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Show all 9 1 /9 The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and the media White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer takes questions during the daily press briefing Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and the Trans-Pacific Partnership Union leaders applaud US President Donald Trump for signing an executive order withdrawing the US from the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations during a meeting in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington DC. Mr Trump issued a presidential memorandum in January announcing that the US would withdraw from the trade deal Getty The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and the Mexico wall A US Border Patrol vehicle sits waiting for illegal immigrants at a fence opening near the US-Mexico border near McAllen, Texas. The number of incoming immigrants has surged ahead of the upcoming Presidential inauguration of Donald Trump, who has pledged to build a wall along the US-Mexico border. A signature campaign promise, Mr Trump outlined his intention to build a border wall on the US-Mexico border days after taking office Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and abortion US President Donald Trump signs an executive order as Chief of Staff Reince Priebus looks on in the Oval Office of the White House. Mr Trump reinstated a ban on American financial aide being granted to non-governmental organizations that provide abortion counseling, provide abortion referrals, or advocate for abortion access outside of the United States Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and the Dakota Access pipeline Opponents of the Keystone XL and Dakota Access pipelines hold a rally as they protest US President Donald Trump's executive orders advancing their construction, at Columbus Circle in New York. US President Donald Trump signed executive orders reviving the construction of two controversial oil pipelines, but said the projects would be subject to renegotiation Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and 'Obamacare' Nancy Pelosi who is the minority leader of the House of Representatives speaks beside House Democrats at an event to protect the Affordable Care Act in Los Angeles, California. US President Donald Trump's effort to make good on his campaign promise to repeal and replace the healthcare law failed when Republicans failed to get enough votes. Mr Trump has promised to revisit the matter Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Donald Trump and 'sanctuary cities' US President Donald Trump signed an executive order in January threatening to pull funding for so-called "sanctuary cities" if they do not comply with federal immigration law AP The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and the travel ban US President Donald Trump has attempted twice to restrict travel into the United States from several predominantly Muslim countries. The first attempt, in February, was met with swift opposition from protesters who flocked to airports around the country. That travel ban was later blocked by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The second ban was blocked by a federal judge a day before it was scheduled to be implemented in mid-March SANDY HUFFAKER/AFP/Getty Images The controversial orders Donald Trump has already issued Trump and climate change US President Donald Trump sought to dismantle several of his predecessor's actions on climate change in March. His order instructed the Environmental Protection Agency to reevaluate the Clean Power Plan, which would cap power plant emissions Shannon Stapleton/Reuters

“We don’t like Breitbart, but products are speech and we are pro free speech,” he said. “This means protecting the right of organisations to use our platform even if they are unpopular or if we disagree with their premise, as long as they are within the law. That being said, if Breitbart calls us tomorrow and tells us that they are going to switch to another platform, we would be delighted.”

Lutke said he had received more than 10,000 emails, tweets and messages urging him to stop letting Breitbart sell merchandise via its platform. The “Delete Shopify” hashtag has gained increasing traction on Twitter in recent weeks as opposition to the partnership has mounted.

According to SumOfUs’ open letter, Breitbart is using its merchandise to fund its global expansion in the lead up to pivotal 2017 European elections. The controversial news site has been planning its European expansion for a while and hopes to set up outlets in France and Germany, where far-right parties are growing.

SumOfUs said 19,000 of the signatories on the petition were customers, while 790 were shareholders, and just over 100 were employees. However, the numbers are yet to be confirmed.

“I'm impressed that at a company of Shopify's size, 100 signed this petition. That's considerable and should be a big flag for the company,” Ms Pullman said.

There have been reports of internal conflict within Shopify, which has over 1,900 employees, as some staff are said to be upset about the Breitbart partnership.

“I've actually spoken to two former Shopify employees who have painted a picture of quite significant internal struggle over Shopify's refusal to ditch Breitbart,” an unnamed source said.

Critics argue the company’s decision to host the news site is at odds with its ethos. Several of the company’s executives have proudly applauded their immigrant roots and its executives openly condemned President Donald Trump’s hard-line immigration ban.

“Shopify supports the rights of citizens to engage in free speech and peaceful protest,” a spokesperson for the company told The Independent.

“Shopify is a platform that provides software to help businesses sell their products. The use of our platform by merchants is not an endorsement. Shopify does not endorse, fund or advertise with Breitbart”.

Breitbart, which has mounting access to the White House, was dubbed “Trumpbart” before Mr Trump entered the White House. The President gave numerous interviews to the site in the build-up to the election, boosting its traffic to a 124 per cent spike in 2016.

Comment pieces published on the site include “Political Correctness Protects Muslim Rape Culture” and “Birth Control Makes Women Unattractive and Crazy”.

Donald Trump with Steve Bannon, former executive of Breitbart News and the President's chief strategist (Reuters)

Hundreds of advertisers have cut their links with the ultra-conservative site in recent weeks. According to Ms Pullman, in just a few months 1,300 companies and organisations have blacklisted Breitbart.

According to Sleeping Giants, the group behind the grassroots campaign, Audi, Visa, T-Mobile and Lufthansa have joined the growing list of companies to boycott the site. Campaigners have urged people on Twitter to oust the companies who advertise on the site by sharing screenshots of Breitbart ads.

Fox News reported the mounting boycott campaign is having a detrimental impact on Breitbart’s revenues, with “advertising dollars shrinking significantly".