Now PayPal Cancels Account of Parents Group that Fought to Keep Schools Open During COVID as Well as the Free Speech Union, MPs Hear
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The substance of this Daily Mail article raises the broader issue of the cancelling of the paypal accounts of numerous independent media (largely funded by readers) as a contiguous act of online censorship.
The payment system is destabilized.
It’s a despicable act directed against online Freedom of Expression, which Global Research experienced more than 5 years ago when paypal decided to suspend our account. (M.Ch.)
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MPs have hit back at PayPal after it cancelled the account of a parents group which fought hard to keep schools open during Covid just days after doing the same to the Free Speech Union.
UsForThem was ‘shocked’ to discover that it could not access thousands of pounds of donated money after PayPal suspended its account ‘in accordance with’ the company’s user agreement.
Just last week, PayPal, co-founded by Elon Musk, had controversially shut the accounts of Toby Young’s Free Speech Union as well as his news website, the Daily Sceptic.
Musk, who made around $175.8 million after PayPal was sold to eBay, has since been trying to buy social media giant Twitter as he looks to promote ‘free speech’.
But in the latest backlash that PayPal has faced, MPs have hit back insisting that financial technology firms should not lock people out of accounts based on ‘perfectly legal political views’.
At Business Questions, Conservative MP for Devizes Danny Kruger asked: ‘Does she share my deep concern about the decision of PayPal, the online payments company, to cancel the accounts of certain organisations including Us for Them, who campaigned against the Covid lockdowns, and perhaps most ironically the Free Speech Union, who appear to have been targeted because of their views on sex and gender.
Mr Kruger added that as society is moving towards a cashless economy, financial technology firms will form part of the ‘essential infrastructure of ordinary life.’
He added: ‘Will the Government take steps to ensure they cannot discriminate against individuals or organisations on the basis of perfectly legal political views?’
Commons Leader Penny Mordaunt replied: ‘He may have further information than I do about why PayPal have cancelled the account and that facility from the organisations that he mentions, but from what I understand the Free Speech Union and other organisations are also still in the dark about exactly why they have had those services removed from them despite making great efforts to find out.’
Ms Mordaunt described the unexplained withdrawal of services by companies as a ‘common theme amongst our casework’ for many MPs.
Arabella Skinner, director of UsForThem told MailOnline the group was ‘really shocked to receive the email from Paypal’.
‘And given that it has taken the same penal action against a number of prominent non-profit advocacy, campaigning and journalistic groups in the UK it gives the distinct impression that this was a politically motivated coup against campaigning groups who had taken a particular view on controversial topics,’ she said.
‘Reasoned, two-sided debate is essential to a functioning democracy, and there should be no room for censorship by way of denial of services.’
Read the full article here. Our thanks to the Daily Mail for having brought this article to our attention
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Featured image: PayPal Operations Center in La Vista, Nebraska (Photo by
