PayPal ditches Christian crowdfunding site used by the Proud Boys
PayPal is cutting ties with Christian crowdfunding site GiveSendGo following the January 6 US Capitol siege.
The site, which the far-right extremist Proud Boys group has used for fundraising, calls itself the “#1 free Christian fundraising site,” and it was used to raise funds for pro-Trump rioters who attended last week’s violent siege.
“The account in question was closed due to a violation of our Acceptable Use Policy,” a PayPal spokesperson told CNN Business. “PayPal carefully reviews accounts to ensure our services are used in line with our long-standing policy, taking action when we deem that individuals or organizations have violated this policy.”
PayPal doesn’t allow its services to be used to “promote hate, violence or other forms of intolerance,” the spokesperson said.
The company took a similar stance in 2017 in response to the violence in Charlottesville, Virginia. “If we become aware of a website or organization using our services that may violate our policies, our highly trained team of experts addresses each case individually and carefully evaluates the website itself, any associated organizations, and their adherence to our policy,” PayPal said in a blog post after the attack.
Crowdfunding site GoFundMe took similar action following the Capitol Hill riot. The company said it would no longer allow users to fundraise for travel expenses to engage in potentially violent political events after pro-Trump protesters used the platform ahead of storming the US Capitol.
GiveSendGo didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
Many companies are halting political donations following last week’s unrest. Airbnb, Amazon and American Express are among a long list of companies that are suspending donations to all of the legislators who were involved in contesting certification of the electoral results. And some companies, including Bank of America, Facebook and Google, are cutting off all political donations, regardless of party.
