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Payment processor Visa blacklists free speech software company Gab

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Re: Payment processor Visa blacklists free speech software company Gab

#2

Post by throwawaysea »

Just like with large privately owned social media platforms that manage a significant amount of discourse (Twitter, Reddit, etc), payment processors have an oligopoly on a significant portion of transactions in society. I feel Visa blacklisting a company based on vague political grounds like “hate speech” should be disallowed since it is not much different from the government banning a company based on speech (in terms of impact). We can probably expect other payment processors to follow suit, just like Visa and MasterCard teamed up to stop payments to Wikileaks in the past.

With these fundamental utility organizations becoming increasingly political, what options (legally/politically/technically) are there to work around them?

Re: Payment processor Visa blacklists free speech software company Gab

#7

Post by onyva »

Yeah right.

Gab is an English-language social media website known for its far-right userbase.[8] The site has been widely described as a "safe haven"[9] for extremists including neo-Nazis, white supremacists, and the alt-right.[10]

Gab claims to stand for free speech and individual liberty,[a][25][26] though these claims have been criticized for being a shield of the alt-right ecosystem.[19][22] Antisemitism is a prominent part of the site's content,[28] and the platform itself has engaged in antisemitic commentary.[23][29] Researchers have written that Gab is "known to be hateful".[30]

Wikipedia.

Re: Payment processor Visa blacklists free speech software company Gab

#9

Post by s9w »

reedwolf wrote: post #6

Like all "free speech" platforms, it prompty turned into a Nazi-infested hellhole. It's like a law of Nature, or something.

I would try to offer an alternative interpretation: The opposite of that can only exist in heavily manipulated or censored communities.

Re: Payment processor Visa blacklists free speech software company Gab

#10

Post by onyva »

onyva wrote: post #7

Yeah right. Gab is an English-language social media website known for its far-right userbase.[8] The site has been widely described as a "safe haven"[9] for extremists including neo-Nazis, white supremacists, and the alt-right.[10] Gab claims to stand for free speech and individual liberty,[a][25][26] though these claims have been criticized for being a shield of the alt-right ecosystem.[19][22] Antisemitism is a pro…

Are you downvoting me, Wikipedia or Jews in general? Asking for a friend.
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