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PayPal shuts account of group who fought to keep schools open during pandemic

Another casualty of the recent PayPal purge.

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UsForThem, a UK parentsโ€™ group that campaigned to keep schools open during the pandemic, has been banned from PayPal because of โ€œthe nature of its activities.โ€ The group says that after the ban, it is unable to access thousands of pounds in donations.

โ€œWe were completely taken aback to learn that PayPal was discontinuing our services โ€˜due to the nature of [our] activitiesโ€™. No prior warning or meaningful explanation was given, and despite them saying we could withdraw our remaining balance, we cannot,โ€ said the groupโ€™s co-founder Molly Kingsley to The Telegraph.

โ€œUsForThem has only ever been fully transparent about the organizationโ€™s aims, and our mission statement is on a prominent page of our website for all to read. That makes clear that our core focus is campaigning for children to be prioritized in public decision-making.

โ€œIf something about that mission offends PayPal, why could they not be transparent about that? For a small volunteer organization, this has a significant impact on our ability to operate, as presumably was intended.

โ€œIt is extremely hard not to draw the conclusion that this is a politically motivated cancellation of an organization that in some way offends PayPal.โ€

Toby Young, Free Speech Unionโ€™s founder, also claimed PayPal banned his account for political motives. The Free Speech Unionโ€™s account was also banned, as well as the account of the non-profit Gays Against Groomers.