The Patreon Purge
Patreon since it’s founding in 2013 had become the most popular crowd funding method for online content creators. Rather than creators set up their own web membership programs (many YouTubers don’t even have a website), or rely solely on advertising revenue, they can easily sign up to Patreon, set membership levels and rewards and build up their income.
As well as being used by musicians, lifestyle and entertainment vloggers, Patreon had been used by right wing content creators and YouTubers, especially during the surge in their popularity during the 2016 US Presidential election.
But the progressive left, in their current extreme incarnation believed that their ideological enemies were making a living from so called hate speech. So they started a campaign to have right wing content creators deplatformed from as many outlets as possible to cut off their income streams.
Patreon began capitulating to these leftist deplaforming demands with Lauren Southern the first major casualty in July 2017. Her Patreon account was deleted due to her association with the European anti-immigration activist group Defend Europe who are seeking to stem the flow of unauthorized boat arrivals into Europe as part of that continent’s migrant crisis. Southern now has her own membership program on her personal website laurensouthern.net.
The next major causality of Patreon’s hate speech crackdown in May this year was Southern’s former Rebel Media colleague Faith Goldy. This was due to the fact she sincerely recited the Fourteen Words in appearance on Millennial Woes’ YouTube channel.
Now Patreon has turbocharged it’s deplatforming of right-wing content creators. This appeared to have been triggered by the fact that Milo Yiannopoulos opened up a Patreon account to fund his 2019 comeback after it was revealed he was $4 million in debt. Patreon deleted his account within 24 hours with Patreon citing Yiannopoulos’ previous membership of the Proud Boys as it’s community guidelines “don’t allow association with or supporting hate groups on Patreon”.
The next major name to be kicked off Patreon was classical liberal and anti-social justice warrior YouTuber Sargon of Akkad, real name Carl Benjamin. He was earning $12,000 USD a month from the platform but was informed on the weekend from Patreon’s trust and safety team his account had been terminated for using a racial slur. The context was this was he having a debate with some alt-right personalities and called them “white niggers”. Benjamin went through his interactions with Patreon’s trust and safety team in a video on his YouTube channel. He has now set up a new support account on another crowdfunding alternative Star Subscribe.
These major causalities of Patreon’s community standards as left many wondering which right wing personalities will be next. Many patrons have jumped off the platform before they were pushed and are looking at other ways to support their favourite content creators.
Patreon banning right wing content creators over the past year has led to the creation of many alternatives such as Hatreon, MakerSupport and FreeStartr. But all of these alternatives have fallen victim to the next level efforts of leftist activist and left leaning technology companies to cut off right wingers’ income streams. Who knows how long Star Subscribe will now last with right wing personalities gravitating over to it.
The failure of these Patreon alternatives is due to the big two online payment processors PayPal and Stripe entering the deplatforming effort with their own hate speech and community standards policies. They are now refusing to facilitate payments of various right wing figures.
PayPal has banned Alex Jones, the Proud Boys, Tommy Robinson and free speech social media alternatives Gab.ai and BitChute. Though PayPal in same period has banned left wing terrorist extremist group Antifa from receiving payments, so they are being non-ideological in their deplatforming of political groups.
The next challenge for those content creators and social media platforms who believe in free speech is to create a new online payment processing platforms for those who use traditional monetary currencies. Crypocurrencies do not require a payment processor and hence those deplatformed are still able to obtain income through supporters who use various crypocurrencies.
The leftist activists and big tech are throwing as many obstacles as they can in the ability of right wing figures to reach the masses and and make it financially viable. But the age of the internet has forever slayed the gatekeepers, and while there has been plenty of setbacks there is still the means through the internet and technology find new ways to escape Silicon Valley’s grip on the flow on information and funds.
