Friday, February 4, 2022

GoFundMe Double Standard

When BLM set up a GoFundMe account, all was well with the world.  Sure, there were riots and some of the money was used to bail rioters out of jail.  No big deal.  That's fine.  However, when a GoFundMe was setup for Kyle Rittenhouse, that was too much.  Denied.  They didn't want to associate with a man who shot three people, killing two of them.  Okay, I suppose.  It thus came as a bit of a surprise when a GoFundMe for Darrell Brooks was allowed.  He's the guy who ran over all the people at a Kenosha parade, killing 6 and injuring 62.  Huh.  Now GoFundMe has shut down the Freedom Truckers account because they....  didn't kill anyone.  Aren't burning down cities and needing bail money.  What exactly is the problem with them?  Not just a 'mostly' peaceful protest, but an entirely peaceful one.

GoFundMe is obviously political.  If you are black and killed a bunch of people, funding approved.  If you are white and killed people, funding denied.  If you burn down cities and ransack stores to protest the police and/or Trump, funding approved.  If you drive your trucks across Canada to protest vaccine mandates, funding denied.

I am reminded of how Patreon became political, booting various right or libertarian leaning people from its service.  What of all those platforms that almost simultaneously banned Alex Jones.  He broke the rules on all of them at the same time?  Unlikely.  There was coordination there.  The continued efforts to silence people is getting more extreme all the time.  First, it was just protesting and shouting down.  Then it was banning from platforms.  Now it is starving them of funds.  This trend will lead to tyranny or revolution, neither a desired outcome.  We value freedom of speech for a reason and efforts to quash it are playing with fire.

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