Research Reports

September 2022.  Censorship, Free Speech and Electronic Payments (PayPal)

This report is based on a survey conducted with the help of the Free Speech Union following PayPals closure of theirs and other organisations accounts.  3,172 people took part in the survey with responses from people who both supported and opposed the work of the Free Speech Union.  The vast majority (86%) of Free Speech supporters who used Pay Pal (1,629 respondents) had stopped or reduced their use of PayPal or cancelled their PayPal account.  Whilst PayPal have reversed their decision to close a number of accounts, they have also indicated that they will be updating their terms of use.  This issue remains a concern.

The full survey report is available here.

The issue has already been raised in parliament (by MP Danny Kruger on Thursday 22nd September) in response to which the Leader of the House suggested there were grounds for a debate given the volume of ‘customer service’ issues constituents raise with MPs.  Our goal is to make sure this is a government tabled debate (which would happen sooner) and that when the debate takes place sufficient emphasis is placed on the right to free speech. 

Our question to parliament is:

  • Do we want live in an open democracy where free speech is welcomed or a surveillance state where speech is censored and controlled?

If you are in favour of the former (open democracy) and would like to see our MP email please contact Support @ TheDemocraticNetwork.org.

We are currently researching alternative payment service providers, including UK based tech start-ups.

Further information on this issue is covered in:

  • Daily Sceptic
  • Reclaim the Net
  • The Spectator
  • Big Brother Watch.

A summary of our survey report is available in this twitter thread: