After pressure, PayPal takes down Ku Klux Klan donation account

PayPal suspended an account used to raise funds for the Ku Klux Klan Monday. PayPal was criticised for allowing the white supremacist group to accept donations through its service, despite earlier committing to banish "Hate, Violence & Intolerance" in a post that explicitly named the KKK. [via]

"I have tonnes of concerns that PayPal is not able to act quickly and decisively on hate groups," Nandini Jammi, from the internet-based group Sleeping Giants, told BBC News.

"There are some examples of them acting in a fairly timely manner.

"But they're not applying [their anti-hate policy] in a consistent enough manner."

A spokesman for PayPal said: "Due to our legal and data protection obligations, we cannot comment on any specific PayPal customer's account.

PayPal was unresponsive to complaints about this account. The BBC reports that it took public pressure from several groups to get them to suspend it.

Something about this reminds me of YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki's recent declaration of support for "offensive" content followed by an ostentatious headline-grabbing ban on a single far right figure. The result is to revive far-right usage of the platform while appearing to clamp down on it.

There's really no engagement like you get being a far-right provocateur online. It's quick, life-changing money for anyone with a little wherewithal and a lack of shame. Which, ironically, signifies just how behind the times the Klan is with its shabby PayPal donation button.