PayPal is making it harder for anti-fascist and far-right groups to raise money online by canceling their accounts, The Verge reported Friday.
PayPal has banned Gavin McInnes, who founded a far-right group of self-described "western chauvinists," called the Proud Boys. The company also dumped accounts for Atlanta Antifa, Antifa Sacramento, and the Anti-Fascist Network, which organize often-aggressive confrontations against extremist groups and figures. The tech industry has been struggling with how to handle users who promote violence — this latest decision from PayPal was part of an attempt to limit extremist accounts from having a platform to spread their views, a tactic called "de-platforming."
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PayPal is not the only tech company that has gotten on the “de-platforming” plan. Twitter removed McInnes' account over the summer and Facebook followed suit last month, Mashable reports. Other extremists have been removed as well, like conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, who was removed from YouTube, Spotify, and Facebook.
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