Tommy Robinson’s PayPal account is about to be drained. For those who don’t know, Robinson is a British alt-right activist and leader of the English Defence League. Much of the public believes he has taken his actions too far, and now 27,000 people are calling for a shut down of Robinson’s PayPal.
Robinson was imprisoned for an identity breach in 2013. Since then, the activist has been accepting PayPal donations for his far-right organizations and his own legal fees. 27,000 people recently signed a petition campaigning for a suspension of Robinson’s account.
Those that have signed the petition are asking PayPal to reconsider its “Acceptable Use Policy”. As the policy states, “the company should not be used for the promotion of hate, violence, racial, or other forms of intolerance that is discriminatory”.
Here is the full petition:
“Tommy Robinson and his far-right allies around the world need money to grow their organizations and spread their vile doctrine of hate – but payment companies and banks are under no obligation to accept their business.
Like many tech giants, PayPal has a robust hate-speech policy but a patchy record of putting it into practice.
Faced with inaction, the public will keep holding them accountable: thanks to campaigning by SumOfUs members in France, PayPal stopped processing payments for a far-right group there.
It’s time they close Tommy Robinson’s account, too. When PayPal deplatformed a Canadian far-right commentator, she claimed the move ‘effectively knocked me down at the knees.’
Let’s make PayPal do the same for Tommy Robinson.”
This all makes great sense. But don’t you find it a little ironic that these people want to shut down Robinson’s right to free speech when they probably all strongly support the same right? We’ll see how this one plays out. There’s going to be strong opposition from both sides other regardless of what happens. Stay tuned.
Questioning the world’s politics? So is Sacha Baron Cohen.
