PayPal reinstated the accounts of both Robert Spencer’s Jihad Watch and Pamela Geller’s American Freedom Defense Initiative following outrage from supporters over their suspensions.
Breitbart previously reported on Jihad Watch’s suspension and the founder of the website, Robert Spencer, calling for a boycott of PayPal if they continued to “bow to leftism.” Many Jihad Watch supporters took to Twitter to express their anger over the website’s suspension.
On Tuesday, it was announced by Jihad Watch that their account had been reinstated by PayPal. Breitbart spoke to the website’s director, Robert Spencer, who stated,
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. And so they suddenly decided I wasn’t a “hate group” after all. They wrote me: “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.”
This is absurd, of course. They never made a “thorough review” of Jihad Watch either when they banned it or when they restored it. 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.
Similarly, the AFDI, an organization founded by Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer, had their PayPal account suspended and promptly reinstated following public outrage:
https://twitter.com/PamelaGeller/status/899765982381690881
Pamela Geller wrote on her website, “Paypal has restored AFDI’s account. Thank YOU for calling and writing. YOU made the difference. YOU made it happen. These leftists must be exposed and held accountable. Thousands of retweets, I don’t know how many phone calls and emails – but an hour after I posted the suspension, they reversed themselves. Excelsior!”
Breitbart News reached out to PayPal for their take on both suspension cases. In response, a PayPal representative stated:
PayPal’s longstanding policy is not to allow our services to be used to accept payments or donations to organizations for activities that promote hate, violence or racial intolerance. Achieving the balance between protecting the ideals of tolerance, diversity and respect for people of all backgrounds and upholding the values of free expression and open dialogue can be difficult, but we do our best to achieve it.
Our team of dedicated professionals handle each case individually with a thoughtful, consistent and objective approach in how we apply our Acceptable Use Policy.
As it stands, both Jihad Watch and the AFDI have had their accounts reinstated and are accepting donations.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan_ or email him at lnolan@breitbart.com.