In the Media

Articles That Mention the Free Speech Union

PayPal backs down

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At 5.30 p.m. this evening, PayPal notified me that it has restored all three of the accounts it cancelled a couple of weeks ago – the accounts for the Daily Sceptic, the Free Speech Union and my personal account.

Toby Young, The Spectator, 27th September 2022.

Financial censorship

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The Free Speech Union has been demonetised by US payments company PayPal for daring to stand up for free speech and freedom of expression. PayPal UK, the company whose Twitter banner proudly proclaims that it is “open for all”, has now permanently shut the accounts of the Free Speech Union, as well as the personal account of the organisation’s co-founder and General Secretary, Toby Young, and Toby’s news website, the Daily Sceptic, without prior warning, meaningful explanation or recourse to a proper appeals process.

Freddie Attenborough, The Critic, 27th September 2022.

Jacob Rees-Mogg slams PayPal accusing it of pushing “political opinions” on UK public

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Following the company’s decision to suspend Mr Young’s accounts, Jacob Rees-Mogg has accused PayPal of “cancel-culture” and “pushing” its political opinions on the British public. The Business Secretary said: “Corporations such as PayPal should not take part in cancel culture and push political opinions on the British public. It is particularly concerning that it appears to have censored the Free Speech Union. They need to justify their behaviour.”

Rosie Jempson, Express, 27th September 2022.

Pushback Against PayPal Over Free Speech

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The U.S. financial giant PayPal has been accused of political discrimination after suspending British journalist Toby Young’s account, as well as the account of the Free Speech Union, and Young’s news site, The Daily Sceptic. People have been canceling their PayPal accounts in protest, and MPs have written to business secretary Jacob Rees Mogg. NTD met with Toby Young to hear what actually happened.

Jane Werrell, NTD UK News, 26th September 2022.

British Conservative MPs Consider PayPal Political Blacklisting Ban

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British Members of Parliament for the governing Conservative Party are considering an amendment to internet regulations that would prohibit payment processors like PayPal from blacklisting political campaigners, following the tech giant’s decision to withdraw service from the Free Speech Union (FSU), the anti-cancel culture organization founded by columnist and author Toby Young.

Allum Bokhari, Breitbart, 26th September 2022.

Raging Tories embroiled in free speech row with PayPal bosses over the shut down of campaigners’ accounts

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More than 40 politicians — including ex-Cabinet ministers Michael Gove, David Davis, and Sir Iain Duncan Smith – want the Government to consider laws to prevent campaign groups being punished. In a letter to Business SecretaryJacob Rees-Mogg, they had “serious concern” about the break with Free Speech Union and Daily Sceptic. The MPs say: “These are respectful and respectable campaigning groups operating fully within UK law.”

Jack Elsom, The Sun, 25th September 2022.

Paypal could be banned from blocking accounts of campaign groups for political reasons

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Conservative backbenchers are considering launching an amendment to upcoming financial legislation in the House of Commons that would ban companies from freezing campaigners’ accounts. It comes after UsForThem, which campaigned to keep schools open during the pandemic, and the Free Speech Union (FSU), a pressure group, had their PayPal accounts blocked and were accused of violating terms of service.

Tony Diver, The Telegraph, 25th September 2022.