It's an awesome victory. In just a few weeks, Robinson will head to Australia for the first leg of an international racist roadshow, and he’s hoping for a massive payday as a result.
By kicking him off PayPal, SumOfUs members have blocked a major source of his funding, but our fight isn’t over yet. Mastercard is still refusing to stop processing donations for Tommy Robinson’s hateful message, and for many other known hate groups. What we need right now is a global push on Mastercard to stop doing business with hate -- but we need to act right now while the story is still fresh!
Some of the most dangerous white supremacists in the world use Mastercard to rake in donations. And because it’s refusing to take action -- Mastercard pockets the transaction fees.
Take professional racist Tommy Robinson, who earns a luxury living stirring up racist violence with online content -- police say his social media posts radicalised a man who ploughed a van into Muslim worshippers in London last year. And he’s about to earn a massive payday on an international racist road-show -- money that UK politicians fear will be pumped back into dividing communities.
Robinson was hoping to preach his anti-Muslim agenda at an event in Washington D.C. this week -- he didn’t manage to get a visa in time, but that doesn’t mean this hateful fundraising tour won’t happen in future.
So here’s where we need you, Anna. None of these groups, leaders or platforms can function without cash. And we know from last week’s huge win on PayPal that public pressure is all we need to force companies to stop that cash flowing.
The rise of the far right is a global phenomenon, and the fight to curb its growing power requires a globally-coordinated fight. This fight will require all of us to win.
SumOfUs members have been fighting against the rise of the far right for years, and have created major impacts and wins. From demanding Canadian e-commerce company Shopify amend its terms of service to then ditch the Proud Boys, pushing companies to stop processing payments from European hate group Génération Identitaire, to now dealing a gigantic blow to Tommy Robinson’s PayPal account, your work has been nothing short of stunning.
In times like these, it’s easy to feel hopeless against the rise of the far right -- I know I feel that way sometimes. But we have to keep it up and keep pushing for a better world. Because we must.
Right now, I am more proud than ever to work with SumOfUs members like you -- together we won. And together we’ll win again.
More information
BBC. 9 November 2018.
MEAWW. 9 November 2018.
