THREAD: Imagine if all of these activists & marginalized people could never be financially deplatformed by governments or big banks. That’s the future we’re fighting for w/ #DontKillCrypto — there’s no #Cryptocurrency unless we stand up & demand the things #crypto can get right.
#OnlyFans deplatforming sex workers is only the latest in a long and impressive line of those major corporations have tried to destroy by cutting off their ability to earn or access $$$ cnet.com/news/onlyfans-…
Amnesty International's bank account was frozen by Indian authorities after publishing reports on human rights violations under the Modi government. cbsnews.com/news/india-amn…
In 2020, under Hong Kong police orders, HSBC froze the accounts of exiled former Hong Kong legislator and pro-democracy advocate Ted Hui. theguardian.com/world/2020/dec…
In 2020, Nigeria’s central bank froze the accounts of 20 activists and individuals linked with anti-police brutality protests and the #EndSARS movement. reuters.com/article/nigeri…
During Israel's recent bombing attacks on the Gaza Strip, Venmo flagged and placed under review transactions that were labeled “Palestinian emergency relief fund” and “Emergency Palestinian relief fund” without providing a reason or justification to users. restofworld.org/2021/venmo-pal…
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny had his bank accounts seized by the Russian government while he was in a coma. bbc.com/news/world-eur…
Good Neighbour North District Church, a Hong Kong-based organization that supported pro-democracy protesters, had at least three of its bank accounts frozen by Hong Kong authorities, including those of its pastor and his wife. sg.news.yahoo.com/donations-hong…
Cindy Gallop launched a crowdsourced porn site based on her TED Talk, "Make Love Not Porn," aimed at highlighting unrealistic expectations about porn sex, but was ultimately denied financial services by PayPal, Amazon, Google Checkout, and Chase Bank. engadget.com/2015-12-02-pay…
Several bank accounts of the Rural Missionaries of the Philippines (RMP), a Catholic church org critical of the Duterte gov & focused on supporting poor rural communities, were frozen by Philippine authorities on suspicions of “terrorism financing”.
licas.news/2020/02/07/phi…
The Feminist Collective, a Nigerian grassroots organization collecting donations to support the #EndSARS protests, had their fundraiser page deactivated and their bank account blocked. hrw.org/news/2020/11/1…
The Holy Land Foundation, a Texas-based Muslim charity organization, faced frozen assets as the U.S. government investigated the charity for “material support for terrorism” activities. Ultimately, the org was cleared of the accusations. aclu.org/sites/default/…
Palestinian community leader Hatem Abudayyeh and his wife's bank accounts were frozen as the FBI issued subpoenas alleging "material support for terrorism" activities to Abudayyeh and 23 other anti-war activists.They were later cleared of the accusations. southsideweekly.com/a-legacy-of-pa…
In late 2020 the Ugandan gov froze the accounts of the National NGO Forum & the Uganda Women’s Network (UWONET). Both orgs led grassroots civil society programs and supported voter turn-out and polling efforts in the lead-up to the Ugandan elections. independent.co.ug/ngos-plead-wit…
Scores of sex workers have been banned from digital services like Paypal and Venmo, adding to the layers of discrimination they already face from traditional financial institutions. engadget.com/2015-12-02-pay…
Writer and sex worker Kitty Stryker raised money through the crowdfunding site Patreon to attend the 2014 Feminist Porn Conference in Toronto, but was blocked from accessing the money after Paypal pressured Patreon to shut down fundraisers like Kitty’s. feministing.com/2014/05/20/cro…
In 2010, in the wake of the @wikileaks revelations, PayPal, MasterCard, and Visa froze all funds that had been donated to the nonprofit. MasterCard and Visa did not unfreeze the accounts until 2013, and PayPal completely canceled Wikileaks' account. forbes.com/sites/andygree…
Until we’re able to build decentralized alternatives to the Big Banks and digital financial services, centralized payment services will continue to be tools of repression and harm in our communities and political movements.
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