PayPal reinstated the accounts of two conservative websites it banned after receiving blowback over their decision.
PayPal notified Jihad Watch and the American Freedom Defense Initiative (ADFI) on Monday night that they were reversing the decision to ban their accounts following public outcry:
Effective 08/21/2017, the limitation applied to your account associated with https://www.jihadwatch.org pursuant to our User Agreement was removed. Your services are being reinstated.
PayPal’s Acceptable Use Policy in our User Agreement prohibits individuals and groups from using PayPal for activities that promote hate, violence, or racial intolerance. If we become aware of a website or organization using our services that may violate our polices, our dedicated team of professionals conducts a thorough review. Ultimately, a decision is made and communicated to the organization. In this instance, we have made the determination to lift the limitation applied to your account associated with the Acceptable Use Policy.
Sincerely,
Benjamin
PayPal Brand Risk Management
PayPal
PayPal originally banned the two conservative sites from using their platform after left-wing organizations – the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) and the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) – labeled them as “hate sites.”
After being labeled a “hate site,” the left-leaning ProPublica published a hit piece on the sites and PayPal banned them shortly thereafter.
In a statement to The Daily Caller, Robert Spencer – the director of Jihad Watch – noted how PayPal just suddenly decided that his site wasn’t a hate group after seeing the backlash they were receiving.
“PayPal was inundated with complaints and cancellations of accounts from people who understand that my work is not “hateful,” and that it is not hate to oppose jihad terror and Sharia oppression,” Spencer wrote. “And so they suddenly decided I wasn’t a ‘hate group’ after all.”
Spencer went on to mention that there was never a thorough review of his site and that PayPal just caved to ProPublica – a George Soros-funded organization that claims to be an “independent, nonprofit newsroom that produces investigative journalism in the public interest.”
“They never made a ‘thorough review’ of Jihad Watch either when they banned it or when they restored it,” Spencer added. “They just blow with the wind. And this isn’t over: the Left knows this, and will blow harder. We will have to fight hard to retain our freedoms.”