Financial censorship: Difference between revisions
expanded intro to detail the scope of this particular article (Visa and MC monopoly rather than general censorship); removed smaller incidents and left them as citations |
removed paypal section since its beyond the scope of this article; added why it is a problem section to be filled out later |
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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=EFF |title=https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/02/legal-censorship-paypal-makes-habit-deciding-what-users-can-read |url=https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/02/legal-censorship-paypal-makes-habit-deciding-what-users-can-read}}</ref> medical marijuana advocacy,<ref>{{Cite web |last=CNBC |date=2018 |title= |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2018/08/22/wells-fargo-closes-bank-account-of-candidate-who-supports-marijuana.html}}</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. | '''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=EFF |title=https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/02/legal-censorship-paypal-makes-habit-deciding-what-users-can-read |url=https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/02/legal-censorship-paypal-makes-habit-deciding-what-users-can-read}}</ref> medical marijuana advocacy,<ref>{{Cite web |last=CNBC |date=2018 |title= |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2018/08/22/wells-fargo-closes-bank-account-of-candidate-who-supports-marijuana.html}}</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 == | |||
* Example Text | |||
* Example Text | |||
==Notable incidents== | ==Notable incidents== | ||
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From Visa, Mastercard, Bank of America, PayPal, and Western Union.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Reuters |first= |date=2011 |title=WikiLeaks says "blockade" threatens its existence |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-britain-wikileaks-idUSTRE79N46K20111024/}}</ref> | From Visa, Mastercard, Bank of America, PayPal, and Western Union.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Reuters |first= |date=2011 |title=WikiLeaks says "blockade" threatens its existence |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-britain-wikileaks-idUSTRE79N46K20111024/}}</ref> | ||
==See also== | ==See also== | ||