Financial censorship: Difference between revisions
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'''Financial censorship''' is the practice of major [[payment processors]] refusing to process transactions for individuals or entities that do not align with their values. Although some banks and processors must comply with the law by avoiding known criminal activity, some institutions take a heavy-handed approach in this regard, leading to the censorship of legal adult content,<ref>{{Cite web |last= | '''Financial censorship''' is the practice of major [[payment processors]] refusing to process transactions for individuals or entities that do not align with their values. Although some banks and processors must comply with the law by avoiding known criminal activity, some institutions take a heavy-handed approach in this regard, leading to the censorship of legal adult content,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Reitman |first=Rainey |date=2012-02-29 |title=Legal Censorship: PayPal Makes a Habit of Deciding What Users Can Read |url=https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/02/legal-censorship-paypal-makes-habit-deciding-what-users-can-read |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250829181309/https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/02/legal-censorship-paypal-makes-habit-deciding-what-users-can-read |archive-date=2025-08-29 |access-date=2025-08-29 |website=Electronic Frontier Foundation}}</ref> medical marijuana advocacy,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Flitter |first=Emily |date=2018-08-22 |title=Wells Fargo closes bank account of candidate who supports marijuana |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2018/08/22/wells-fargo-closes-bank-account-of-candidate-who-supports-marijuana.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250829181619/https://www.cnbc.com/2018/08/22/wells-fargo-closes-bank-account-of-candidate-who-supports-marijuana.html |archive-date=2025-08-29 |access-date=2025-08-29 |website=CNBC}}</ref> and other incidents. Companies like PayPal have a long history of censorship; although, when major payment processors such as Visa and Mastercard censor individuals or business entities, they effectively ban those people from engaging in payment transactions at all. This is due to their dominant position in global finance with no widely-adopted alternative. | ||
== Why it is a problem == | ==Why it is a problem== | ||
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==Notable incidents== | ==Notable incidents== | ||
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"Visa and MasterCard stopped processing donations for WikiLeaks in December 2010 after the United States criticized the organization's release of thousands of sensitive U.S. diplomatic cables from its embassies all over the world." | "Visa and MasterCard stopped processing donations for WikiLeaks in December 2010 after the United States criticized the organization's release of thousands of sensitive U.S. diplomatic cables from its embassies all over the world." | ||
From Visa, Mastercard, Bank of America, PayPal, and Western Union.<ref>{{Cite web |last= | From Visa, Mastercard, Bank of America, PayPal, and Western Union.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Holden |first=Michael |date=2011-10-24 |title=WikiLeaks says "blockade" threatens its existence |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-britain-wikileaks-idUSTRE79N46K20111024/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250829181835/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-britain-wikileaks-idUSTRE79N46K20111024/ |archive-date=2025-08-29 |access-date=2025-08-29 |website=Reuters}}</ref> | ||
==See also== | ==See also== | ||