Republican politician and activist Laura Loomer, who ran for Congress in Florida in 2020 and has filed to do so again in 2022, has reportedly been banned from the payment processing platform Stripe.
Loomer says that the ban occurred just hours after she briefed Republican lawmakers in Florida on corporate censorship, specifically raising the issue of payment processor blacklisting.
In a comment on the free speech platform Gab, Loomer said “One of the amendments I told FL lawmakers that they need to add to the legislation is penalties for payment processors ie like Stripe banning people. Within minutes after announcing my speech, Stripe payment processing RETALIATED and BANNED ME.”
Stripe’s ban on Loomer severely limits her ability to receive donations, as she is also banned from PayPal and Venmo, as well as crowdfunding platform GoFundMe.
She has also been banned from Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram as well as Uber and Lyft.
Stripe also banned President Trump from using its platform in January this year, while he was still President. Despite this, the Republican National Committee continues to use Stripe as a payment processor for its WinRed funding platform.
On her website, Loomer posted a communication she says she received from Stripe earlier this week:
I’m writing to let you know that we are no longer able to accept payments for The Loomer Project after 2021-04-12. After a recent review of your website and account information, we’ve found that your business presents a higher level of risk than we’re able to work with. Specifically, your business is in violation of our Stripe Services Agreement, section A.7.b (Restricted Businesses and Activities”) [0].
Additionally, we request that you remove any references to Stripe on your site, including any code, such as API keys and any plugins [1]. We can provide you with fourteen days to switch to a new provider. After that, you won’t be able to accept additional charges on your account, but we will continue making transfers to your bank account until you receive all of your funds [2].
If you believe we have made an error in this determination or have since removed violating content, please let us know. Regards, Stripe.
Financial blacklisting against conservatives is on the rise. Numerous conservative organizations and individuals have been cut off from using online payments services and funding platforms, including the free speech social network Gab.
Even liberal organizations have raised the alarm about this trend, with the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) warning in 2018 that banks and payment processors were becoming “de facto internet censors.”
Much of the trend is driven by activist journalism in the mainstream media. Glenn Greenwald recently condemned USA Today for engaging in this behavior, after the newspaper pressured PayPal into suspending service to the legal defense funds of individuals facing felony charges from the U.S. Justice Department in relation to the Jan 6th Capitol Hill riot.
Breitbart News has reached out to Stripe for comment.
Allum Bokhari is the senior technology correspondent at Breitbart News. He is the author of #DELETED: Big Tech’s Battle to Erase the Trump Movement and Steal The Election.
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