Online payment systems continue to set a dangerous precedent by trying to stop transactions they ideologically disagree with.
The Twitter account Gays Against Groomers is claiming that they have been banned from Venmo and PayPal after the payment systems have notified the account owner that he is in violation of user agreements:
“We have recently reviewed your usage of Venmo’s services, as reflected in our records. Due to the nature of your activities, we have chosen to discontinue service to you in accordance with Venmo’s User Agreement. As a result, we have placed a permanent limitation on your account.”
Venmo’s email to Gays Against Groomers
In the same week, PayPal has also closed accounts associated with The Daily Sceptic and The Free Speech Union, both websites are run by British conservative editor Toby Young.
In response to the closing of these accounts, PayPal released the following statement to the Washington Examiner:
“‘PayPal has a long-standing and consistent Acceptable Use Policy. We take action when we deem that individuals or organizations have violated this policy,’ a spokesperson told the Washington Examiner. The policy includes a ban on using PayPal for ‘the promotion of hate, violence, racial or other forms of intolerance that is discriminatory or the financial exploitation of a crime.'”
PayPal Statement to the Washington Examiner
What’s next? Will banks decline debit card transactions when a person buys a firearm or donates to a conservative non-profit? Visa, Mastercard, and American Express have already made it clear that they plan to separately track gun store purchases, what is the next step for payment providers after that? PayPal, Venmo, and similar financial providers are setting a dangerous precedent. Do Americans really want payment companies to have the ability to restrict transactions they don’t like?
The Twitter account Gays Against Groomers later shared an update on the situation, writing, “PayPal banned us for being against pedophilia, but allow actual pedophile groups to use their services unabated.” The comment is referring to Prostasia, a company claims to protect children, but also advocates and provides support for what they call “MAPs” which stands for minor-attracted persons — also known by every dictionary for all of history until 5 seconds ago, as a pedophile.
The biggest issue with PayPal’s decision, are the arbitrary lines drawn by their policy. One organization is banned for advocating on behalf of children and their safety, another is allowed to remain on the platform after openly advocating for adults who are attracted to children. Normalizing pedophilia and de-stigmatizing it will only create surge in crimes against children, and PayPal is complicit.
Over the last few years, Big Tech has purposefully been vague about their so-called “hate speech” policies in order to selectively decide who gets censored and who does not. The question stands on whether or not companies have the right to enforce discriminatory policies against their customers, or if government’s role involve stepping in to protect citizens from preferential actions on behalf of private companies. It’s obvious that these standards are not being applied equally to all ideologies.
