PayPal shuts down accounts of Free Speech Union

The US payments company PayPal has shut down the account of the Free Speech Union - an organisation which defends free speech, including support for people who lose work for expressing opinions.

The Free Speech Union, founded by Toby Young was left with 'no clear explanation' as to why their account had been shut down. Mr Young told The Telegraph he believed it was a politically-motived decision as his organisation often defends gender-critical academics, describing the actions as a 'sinister form of cancel culture'.

PayPal told Mr Young that his account was being shut because of 'violations' against the US company's 'Acceptable Use Policy' but these violations were not explained. Mr Young said he was unaware of any possible ways the Free Speech Union could have breached the terms and conditions, which specifically bans illegal payments and ponzi schemes.

Speaking to Mark Dolan exclusively on GB News, Toby Young said 'I assumed that when i was cancelled in 2019, i couldn't get cancelled again. I thought i was bullet proof... it terms out i was naive.

He went on 'PayPal have form...but there's no right of appeal, no right to parole. This is the new battlefront for free speech'.

The Free Speech Union have now contacted their donors to request they use a different payment process to support the organisation.

A spokesman for PayPal would not comment on the individual case but instead said that the company 'regularly assesses activity against our long-standing Acceptable Use Policy and will discontinue our relationship with account holders who are found to violate our policies'.