American radio show host Alex Jones has been officially banned by PayPal this weekend as the company has looked to distance itself from the controversial conservative figure.
Alex Jones has used PayPal for processing online transactions at the Infowars store, a political news and opinion website that he owns. Popular products included alternative medicine products, survival food, and “Hillary for Prison” t-shirts.
PayPal shared its reasoning in a public statement, saying:
We undertook an extensive review of the Infowars sites, and found instances that promoted hate and discriminatory intolerance against certain communities and religions that run counter to our core value of inclusion.
PayPal has joined a group of tech industry giants in politicizing their platforms, setting a new precedent by restricting access to a user that didn’t directly break its terms of service. Other brands that have banned Alex Jones include YouTube, Twitter, Spotify, and Facebook.
Response to the news has been divisive, with some arguing that Alex Jones had it coming, while others calling it a violation of freedom of speech.
Wow. #PayPal #twitter ! What happened to freedom of speech. Didn’t know United States stood for “ban those who disagree with your opinion” I don’t like the guy but ppl starting to cross the lien. #BringBackFreedomOfSpeech
— United we stand! (@KingsMadness) September 22, 2018
You know what? Alex Jones should just be banned from life. #infowars #AlexJones #paypal
— RageMD (@RageMD) September 22, 2018
The ban was called earlier Saturday morning, but won’t be fully enforced until 10 days have passed, providing Alex Jones with time to move existing funds on the account.
