MPs demand action over free speech champions ‘cancelled’ by PayPal
SENIOR MPs and peers have urged ministers to take action over PayPal’s decision to close the accounts of free- speech groups in the UK.
In a letter to ministers, 42 politicians said the Government should demand that the online payment service explains its decision and also release the money held in the organisations’ accounts.
In recent weeks, PayPal has closed the accounts of several groups which have questioned the Covid lockdowns. The company has told them it can hold on to their cash for up to 180 days.
The groups include several belonging to free- speech campaigner Toby Young, such as the
‘A politically motivated move’
Free Speech Union and his blog the Daily Sceptic, which was set up in 2020 to scrutinise lockdowns.
Signatories of the letter sent yesterday include Sir Graham Brady, chairman of the 1922 Committee, ex-Cabinet minister Michael Gove and former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith.
The letter, addressed to Business Secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg and Andrew Griffith, Financial Secretary to the Treasury, says: ‘The apparently common theme among those organisations and individuals is that they have each become prominent in social, print and broadcast media as champions of free speech.
‘These are respectful and respectable campaigning groups operating fully within UK law. It is therefore hard to avoid construing PayPal’s actions as an orchestrated, politically motivated move to silence critical or dissenting views on these topics within the UK.’
The MPs said financial regulators should ‘address the apparently unchecked ability of financial services operators such as PayPal to effect private economic sanctions and censorship in the UK’.
UsForThem, which campaigned to keep schools open during the pandemic, also had its account closed but PayPal reversed the decision after a review.
Mr Young said: ‘The withdrawal of banking services from an individual or an organisation because they aren’t toeing the right political line is something you’d expect to happen in Communist China.’
Molly Kingsley, co-founder of UsForThem, added: ‘We are calling
the Government and the regulators to urgently introduce appropriate legislative safeguards.’
PayPal said: ‘Due to our legal and data protection obligations, we cannot comment on an individual customer’s account. PayPal regularly assesses activity against our long-standing acceptable use policy and will discontinue our relationship with account holders who are found to violate our policies.’