PayPal censorship: Organizations defunded on ideological grounds
PayPal has defunded a number of organisations on tenuous grounds in recent days, which should raise serious alarm about freedom of speech as we head towards a fully digitalised world.
The Big Tech company’s ability to deplatform individuals and media outlets sets the dangerous precedent that those who fail to fall in line with the mainstream narrative are not entitled to an opinion or an income.
The Daily Sceptic, a fast-growing news site which has persistently challenged COVID-19 narratives, was told that it would have its PayPal account blocked. The personal account of its owner, Toby Young, had been closed just hours before.
“PayPal’s policy is not to allow our services to be used for activities that promote hate, violence or racial intolerance,” was the message that Daily Sceptic received.
“We regularly assess activity against our long-standing Acceptable Use Policy and carefully review actions reported to us, and will discontinue our relationship with account holders who are found to violate our policies,” PayPal added.
Such a vague explanation leaves just about everyone vulnerable to instant censorship.
The Free Speech Union, also owned by Young, met the same fate within hours – what are the chances?
“PayPal has just redrawn the Overton Window. There are now certain issues you aren’t allowed to defend people for expressing sceptical opinions about,” Toby Young.
On the same day, Gays Against Groomers, an organisation that fights against the sexualization, indoctrination and medicalization of children, had its accounts on PayPal and Pay Pal-owned Venmo shut down for “discriminatory behaviour”.
Less than 24 hours later, it had its Google account closed too, in what screams of a coordinated attack by Big Tech.
BREAKING: After being banned by @PayPal and @Venmo less than 24 hours ago, We have JUST been banned by @Google!
Big tech is coordinating a massive attack on our organization for trying to protect children. THIS IS INSANE. pic.twitter.com/AwAzd1eV0p
— Gays Against Gr██mers (@againstgrmrs) September 21, 2022
The fact that these cases all happened within 24 hours of each other is remarkable yet, unfortunately, it is nothing new.
Journalist Colin Wright, a former colleague of Peter Young at Quillette, who was a staunch critic of trans rights dogma, had his PayPal account closed in June.
In January earlier this year, another journalist, Ian Miles Cheong, had his account closed and claimed that an employee of the company told him that it was due to his political beliefs.
“PayPal just informed me that they have permanently banned my account. Without giving an explicit reason why, the supervisor was extremely rude and implied that it had everything to do with my politics,” he wrote at the time.
Why should you care?
Big tech companies being able to shut down the income streams of organisations with no justification sets a frightening precedent. As we enter an ever more digital society where payments and income sources will predominantly be digital, passivity towards such practice would lead to a more conformed world than ever before.
This is not a matter of whether you agree or not with the content of the aforementioned organisations or journalists, the issue is that turning a blind eye on such acts of censorship makes it permissible for Big Tech companies to shut down voices of anyone who does not fall in line with their view of the world.
The aim of the technocracy is to merge every aspect of our lives into the digital sphere. Removing the ability for people to make or receive payments based on their views is power unseen even by the biggest dictatorships the world has ever seen.
And those who cheer on such censorship, believing that the likes of PayPal are merely getting rid of those with ‘undesirable’ views, are in for a big surprise – supporting these acts makes gives consent for them to do the same on matters that today seem permissible.
