Stripe, the digital payment platform, has come under scrutiny after closing the accounts of several users, including one who was recently extended a multi-thousand dollar business loan and believes the action was a result of a controversial tweet about India. This incident has sparked a debate about the power of financial platforms to silence users based on political views, raising concerns about freedom of speech and the reliability of Stripe as a payment processor for being a politically motivated decision. Affected users have voiced their frustrations, noting the lack of communication from Stripe and questioning the platform's decision-making process. The situation has prompted calls for alternative payment solutions, especially among Substack writers who rely on Stripe for transactions and emphasize the importance of free speech.
stripe is complete trash and cannot be trusted with your money. how tf are they so popular? they closed my account and fully refunded the entire account balance without authorization from me, no phone call or anything. just a couple of emails about missing verification that went…
Can @SubstackInc please address this? Your platform is built on dedication to free speech, but that doesn’t count for much if your only payment processor doesn’t share those values. Is it possible to develop alternatives to Stripe? @hamishmckenzie https://t.co/OonQ20Uxmj
I have no clue who Will Spencer is, or what he did to deserve this But everyone who writes on Substack should support him and push back against this type of debanking If Stripe can shut down anyone's account for any reason, they can silence any Substack writer for any reason https://t.co/NrLw9Hr3IT
I want to understand the reason for this, @stripe. It appears to be a politically motivated decision. Can conservatives trust Stripe? @patrickc @collision https://t.co/XOBrgsnoIq
Well everyone, Stripe just closed my account. This is almost certainly a result of my India tweet from Monday. Meanwhile, Stripe just extended me a multi-thousand dollar business loan about a month ago. My credit was fine then. I wonder what changed about my risk? 🤔 https://t.co/16YyQ762wo