PayPal Bans American Freedom Defense Initiative

ProPublica senior reporting fellow Lauren Kirchner asked organizations if they dis-agree with being deemed a hate group, according to a version of the email obtained by the Daily Wire. American Freedom Defense Initiative (AFDI) leader Pamela Geller received a similar email. Days after the ProPublica report, Jihad Watch, the AFDI and ACT for America lost their ability to receive donations through PayPal. In the email Geller provided on her Facebook page, PayPal said it limited her account “[d]ue to the nature of your activities.” The email told Geller to “remove all references to PayPal from your website,” including “removing PayPal as a payment option, as well as the Paypal logo and/or shopping cart.” PayPal quickly reversed its decision to ban AFDI and Ji-had Watch from raising money through their site. Their accounts were reportedly fully restored days later.

From the MRC Censorship Report