While the UK was grieving the loss of their long term monarch, Queen Elizabeth, PayPal decided to close down several UK accounts. Not random ones - these are accounts of organisations that champion free speech or challenge prevailing orthodoxy. This global payment organisation is attempting to control free speech in the UK.
The Free Speech Union had their account suspended without reason. Their work does what their name suggests. They are a mass membership organisation defending free speech. They support anyone whose life is being ruined for simply expressing their opinion, even if they don’t agree with their opinion. Their pinned tweet explains their motivation:
The Union’s Director Toby had his personal PayPal account suspended, and so too his on line newspaper the Daily Skeptic.
UsForThem who campaign for children’s rights also had their PayPal account closed. It means these organisations loose their subscribers and income. They stood up against children loosing their education during lockdowns. In The Daily Telegraph, co-founder Molly Kingsley says: , “We were completely taken aback to learn that PayPal was discontinuing our services ‘due to the nature of [our] activities’. No prior warning or meaningful explanation was given, and despite them saying we could withdraw our remaining balance, we cannot.”
Other organisations who speak against injustice and challenge government policy have had the same treatment from PayPal :
Make your feelings known to PayPal by complaining direct to them at:
https://www.paypal.com/uk/smarthelp/complaints
Or join the #BoycottPayPal campaign through Twitter.
Democracy is fragile and must be defended and fought for. If you wait to complain until it’s your turn to be shut down, you may well be too late. Hit large corporations trying to control what you’re allowed to say in public, where it hurts - in their pockets. We are the many. Together we are powerful.