Online commerce and payment services have stopped the flow of money to Trump-related accounts in light of Wednesday's insurrection at the US Capitol. Software maker Shopify removed stores affiliated with President Donald Trump from its platform, and payment processor PayPal shut down an account raising funds for Trump supporters who traveled to Washington, DC.
The moves come the day after a mob of Trump supporters took over the US Capitol, forcing an evacuation of the building before lawmakers could finish recording electoral votes from the 2020 presidential election, won by Joe Biden. The account takedowns follow freezes on Trump's social media accounts on Facebook, Twitter and Snapchat.
It's not the first time tech companies have removed accounts for far-right groups. Airbnb deactivated users who hosted parties for a "Unite the Right," white supremacist demonstration in Charlottesville, Virginia in 2017. The same year, Cloudflare ended its technical services to the Daily Stormer website, a white supremacist publication, after the site claimed that Cloudflare supported its ideology.
Shopify said the Thursday that the Trump stores, affiliated with the Trump campaign and Trump Organization, violated its policies prohibiting users from promoting or supporting organizations that foment violence.
"Shopify does not tolerate actions that incite violence," a spokesperson said in a statement. "Based on recent events, we have determined that the actions by President Donald J. Trump violate our Acceptable Use Policy, which prohibits promotion or support of organizations, platforms or people that threaten or condone violence to further a cause."
Read more: Will Trump be impeached a second time? What to know and where the situations stands
The Trump campaign didn't respond to a request for comment. The Trump Organization's press email address appeared to be defunct, returning an error message in response to a request for comment.
PayPal said the group raising money for Trump supporters, called Joy In Liberty, also violated its rules. "PayPal carefully reviews accounts to ensure our services are used in line with our long-standing policy," the company said. "We do not allow PayPal services to be used to promote hate, violence or other forms of intolerance."
The Joy In Liberty website features a form for "patriots" to request funds, and another where supporters can donate to "help patriots fulfill their dreams." The website also lists testimonials from people who used funds raised by Joy In Liberty to pay for travel to DC.
Joy In Liberty didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. Zelle, Venmo and the Cash app are also listed as payment options on the group's website. The companies didn't immediately respond to a request for comment on whether they would continue processing payments for Joy In Liberty.
Facing criticism for spreading Trump's messages supporting the insurrection Wednesday, social networks also removed content related to the president. Facebook first temporarily froze Trump's account and then announced Thursday it had blocked Trump's Facebook and Instagram accounts indefinitely. Twitter suspended Trump's account and demanded the deletion of three tweets it said violated its rules. Snapchat also locked Trump's account.
tobytheborderterrier on January 7th, 2021 at 22:23 UTC »
Well they made their 2.5-3% on all the sales of merch for his entire presidency while he encouraged violence for 4 years and they get all holier than thou now that there is 2 weeks left and they have made their money.
Edit- looked up their pricing where I am.
They are a payment processor.
On their $79 a month plan
2.7% plus 30 cents per credit card transaction. 3.4% plus 30 cents for Amex transaction.
Plus 1.0 % more if you use a payment provider other than shopify payments.
Quirkiness101 on January 7th, 2021 at 20:18 UTC »
That feel when you’re too dangerous to have a Shopify account but still get the nuclear codes :P
FutureShock25 on January 7th, 2021 at 19:35 UTC »
He hasn't changed at all in the 4 years. He's been the same person the whole time. It's just become politically convenient to distance yourself now that he's already lost.
Great job doing the bare fucking minimum