Update: Great news! Paypal has blocked the right-wing extremist group's account. It is not enough and we need to make sure Paypal's policies and mechanisms prevent such situations to happen again.
We’ve just learned that a right-wing extremist group is raising funds to sabotage the rescue operations of migrants.
Hundreds of women, children and men have already died this year trying to cross the Mediterranean. Now, a group called the Identitarians has raised 57,000 € to increase this death toll further -- and money is still coming in.
We have to stop these morbid attacks. And we can.
The US corporation Paypal is providing the platform for this hate group to raise its funds -- all the while priding itself on being committed to equality and solidarity. If enough of us speak up, we can force Paypal to act on its commitments and ditch the Identitarians.
The Identitarians are deadly serious about their hateful plans: A few weeks ago, they tried to block the Aquarius -- a boat set to save people from drowning in the Mediterranean Sea.
They were arrested then. But now, they’ve collected tens of thousands of euros to take their attacks to a whole new level.
We cannot stand by and watch these attacks happen. And we don’t have to.
One way we can stop them is to cut off their money supply. PayPal is allowing right-wing extremists to raise their funds now -- but if hundreds of thousands of people around the world bring attention to their shameful complicity, PayPal will need to act.
Together, we can beat hate -- and hold corporations who are willing to put profits above literally everything else to account. We’ve done it before. Alongside our partners we’ve turned up the heat on the racist Breitbart site -- and since then, their advertising revenues have crashed by 90%.
This time, It’s not just about hate. It’s about life or death. We won’t tolerate PayPal allowing far-right extremists to threaten human lives. Tell PayPal to prevent racist and dangerous organizations from using its services for criminal purposes.
More information
The Guardian. 4 June 2017.