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PayPal is cracking down.
By Isaac Serna-Diez — Written on Sep 21, 2022
Two of the largest payment processing companies, Paypal and Venmo, which is a subsidiary of Paypal, have started banning right-wing “gender-critical” groups from using their platforms to receive funds from purchases made on their website.
Gays Against Groomers, along with the Daily Sceptic and the Free Speech Union, have all been banned from the platforms and have started to lash out at the companies, calling for boycotts and violations of their rights to freedom of speech.
Why did PayPal ban Gays Against Groomers?
According to the email received by the gender-critical group Gays Against Groomers, PayPal claimed that their account was “in violation of PayPal’s Acceptable Use Policy regarding your use of the PayPal products.”
Venmo, along with the email from PayPal, said that they would discontinue service to the group’s account “in accordance with Venmo’s User Agreement.
While the Daily Sceptic and the Free Speech Union, two websites operated by the conservative British editor Toby Young, didn’t reveal the emails they received, a majority believes that the websites were banned in the same vane.
Gays Against Groomers is a known anti-trans group.
Posing as an ally to vulnerable LGBT+ groups, Gays Against Groomers claims to be “A coalition of gays against the sexualization, indoctrination and medicalization of children.”
Ultimately, what this means is that they are against gender reassignment surgeries and hormone medications for children, claiming that it implies “sexualization, indoctrination and medicalization.”
Likewise, the Daily Sceptic and the Free Speech Union were known for criticizing these vulnerable groups and the activists that stand up for their rights.
“PayPal has closed the accounts of the Daily Sceptic and the Free Speech Union, a new low in Big Tech’s war on free speech,” tweeted Toby Young. “Not only can you not express certain views, you can’t defend people’s right to express them.”
Originally created to counter the Twitter “cancel culture,” the Free Speech Union is a website geared to help those who are penalized when they “express certain views” or in other words, bash transgender groups.
They say "members may be defended by the FSU if they are penalized for exercising their legal right to free speech," claims the silver tier of the website’s membership options.
"For instance, if you find yourself being targeted by a digital outrage mob on social media for having exercised your legal right to free speech, we will do our best to defend you."
Speaking to Tucker Carlson on FOX News segment “Tucker Carlson Tonight”, Gays Against Groomers’ founder Jaimee Michell claims that by taking this position, “they’re defending pedophiles and child predators.”
Mitchell, according to her LinkedIn, has employment ties to right-wing political media agency X Strategies.
Gays Against Groomers and has been allegedly engaging in activities that could be considered a “terror campaign” against transgender individuals, via The Advocate.
When The Advocate reached out to PayPal to confirm the story, they discovered that the group did indeed get banned from the platforms.
“PayPal’s policy is not to allow our services to be used for activities that promote hate, violence, or discriminatory intolerance,” the spokesperson wrote to The Advocate. “We base our reviews of accounts on these parameters, taking action when we deem that individuals or organizations have violated this policy.”
Isaac Serna-Diez is an Assistant Editor who focuses on entertainment and news, social justice, and politics. Keep up with his rants about current events on his Twitter.