Recently Alex Jones and Gavin McInnes have been banned from various social media platforms, in a desperate attempt by the Left to ensure that the 2016 election results aren’t repeated in 2018. Some people say it doesn’t matter that these men were deplatformed, because they don’t like what they say, and what’s more, these are all private companies. They are indeed private companies, but they have a virtual monopoly today over the means of communication, and once they start banning people because they don’t like what they say, they’ve set a precedent that is inimical to the survival of a free society.
If only approved viewpoints can be aired, we live in a totalitarian state, not a free society, and the effects of this will reverberate in our lives in ways we cannot imagine. If you think that the banning will stop when those who are deemed “crazy” or “extremist” are all banned, you’re in for a surprise.
Yesterday, they came for me, albeit in not yet as thoroughgoing a manner as the way they went after Jones and McInnes.
A few weeks ago the great David Wood swung by my office and helped me set up a Patreon account. We made a video in which I explained that I had come into possession of what once had been a working TV studio, and that I hoped to make it into a working studio again for regular Jihad Watch videos.
The whole endeavor had barely gotten off the ground, however, when I received this email yesterday afternoon:
April (Patreon)
Aug 14, 3:20 PM PDT
Hi Robert,
My name is April and I’m on the Trust & Safety team here at Patreon. I’ve been notified by Mastercard that we must remove your account from Patreon, effective immediately.
Mastercard has a stricter set of rules and regulations than Patreon, and they reserve the right to not offer their services to accounts of their choosing. This is in line with their terms of service, which means it’s something we have to comply by.
I have paid out your remaining creator balance of $475.22 to you via direct deposit.
I’m sorry for the inconvenience and frustration this might cause.
Let me know if you have any questions or concerns — I’m here to help.
Best,
April
Patreon Trust and Safety
Monday – Friday
9am- 6pm PST
I’d been given no warning before this of anything amiss with my account, which at the time consisted of that single video announcing the initiative, along with a note announcing that I would be starting a livestream (I had planned weekly livestreams, “This Week In Jihad,” and recorded one and a half, the second one being cut short by a bad hotel connection. This nascent series will now, of course, be discontinued). That was it. So what violated their rules? They hadn’t explained. But when I went to my Patreon account, I got this:
So I wrote back to April:
I see my account was also disabled. Explanation, please.
No answer. Later on Twitter, however, when I announced this, Patreon responded:
Hi Robert, we emailed you earlier today which explained that unfortunately Mastercard required us to remove your account. You replied to us but if you have further questions we're happy to keep emailing.
— Patreon (@Patreon) August 15, 2018
And:
Hey, we've been emailing with Robert today to explain the situation as unfortunately Mastercard required us to remove his account. We will continue to email with him if he has further questions.
— Patreon (@Patreon) August 15, 2018
This was plainly disingenuous. They had not “been emailing” with me, never explained why MasterCard objected to my account or why they had to comply with MasterCard’s wishes, and didn’t answer my request for an explanation. I don’t have a MasterCard and didn’t have one attached to my Patreon account, so MasterCard really wasn’t involved — unless it owns Patreon, which is apparently the case.
Of course, what is almost certainly going on here is that MasterCard/Patreon is deleting accounts that have been smeared by the hard-Left propaganda hate group the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), despite the fact that the SPLC has been resoundingly discredited. The SPLC defames me as a “hate group leader” and “anti-Muslim extremist.” Here, for the record, is my response to their charges, offered despite the fact that Patreon offered no chance to appeal or rebut whatever charges got me banned.
Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) Falsehoods about Robert Spencer
“Robert Spencer,” https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/individual/robert-spencer
- “Spencer is one of the most prolific anti-Muslim figures in the United States.”
I am not “anti-Muslim.” I oppose jihad terror and Sharia oppression of women, non-Muslims, and others. I am no more “anti-Muslim” than foes of the Nazis were “anti-German.”
- “A career anti-Muslim figure, Spencer has devoted much of his life to writing books, countless articles, and producing other content all with the goal of vilifying and maligning Muslims and the Islamic faith.”
My goal is not now and has never been “vilifying and maligning Muslims and the Islamic faith.” My goal is to convey Islamic doctrines and beliefs accurately in order to help people understand the phenomenon of Islamic jihad terror.
- “He considers these texts to be innately extremist and violent, and refuses to acknowledge nonviolent passages and centuries of adapted interpretations.”
Actually, I’ve published online a commentary on the entire Qur’an, including the nonviolent passages, and written extensively within it about nonviolent interpretations of various passages. That’s here: https://www.jihadwatch.org/quran-commentary
- “Spencer argues that extremists, like Osama bin Laden and ISIS, are the most authentic interpretation and practice of Islam, despite being actively rejected by the overwhelming majority of the world’s Muslims. He brushes this fact off by bombastically claiming the majority of Muslims, either do not understand their own holy book or are masking their extremism.”
I’ve never made such claims, and have in fact spoken of a spectrum of belief, knowledge, and fervor among Muslims that accounts for why most do not wage jihad.
- “By painting Rauf as an extremist who was striving to build a ‘victory mosque’ to celebrate the destruction of the World Trade Center, the two leaders of SIOA sought to block the project while portraying all Muslims as radical – an assertion simply not supported by facts.”
Rauf had links to the Muslim Brotherhood — see here: https://www.nationalreview.com/2010/07/raufs-dawa-world-trade-center-rubble-andrew-c-mccarthy/
We never stated or implied that “all Muslims” are “radical.”
- “Spencer also attacks individuals and organizations that claim to represent mainstream Muslims. This is most commonly done through accusations of those entities acting as secret operatives to destroy the West.”
In reality, I merely note the abundantly documented ties of groups such as CAIR to Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood. See, for example, here: https://www.investigativeproject.org/2340/federal-judge-agrees-cair-tied-to-hamas
- “Spencer is known to have associations with European racists and neo-fascists. However, he claims that his contact with them is merely incidental.”
I have no associations with European racists or neo-fascists, and never have. I have had some associations with people who were falsely accused of being racist and neo-fascist.
- “In Spencer’s 2017 book Confessions of an Islamophobe, a memoir that among other things dives into the nuances of being an anti-Muslim hate monger, he reveals he has no plans of slowing down.”
In reality, the book explains why opposing jihad terror and Sharia oppression do not make one an anti-Muslim hate monger.
“Muslim Basher Robert Spencer Shows White Nationalist Colors,” https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2011/11/09/muslim-basher-robert-spencer-shows-white-nationalist-colors
- “Proving yet again that nothing is beneath him, anti-Muslim propagandist Robert Spencer has put himself firmly in the camp of open white nationalists with an article published yesterday in Crisis magazine, a conservative Catholic publication.”
I am not a white nationalist, openly or secretly, and that article simply criticized multiculturalism. It did not discuss race at all.
- “Spencer’s piece is punctuated with a recommended reading list that might have been taken from the bookshelf of John Tanton, the racist architect of the modern nativist movement.”
I had nothing to do with the compilation of that reading list, and did not see it before the piece was published. None of the books on it are genuinely racist; they’re simply against mass migration of non-Europeans into Europe, the devastating effects of which we are seeing now.
- “Anthony M. Esolen’s The Politically Incorrect Guide to Western Civilization, which was published by the white nationalist Regnery Press…”
Regnery Publishing is not “white nationalist.” It is a leading mainstream conservative publishing house that has published books by numerous mainstream conservative figures, including David Horowitz, Dinesh D’Souza, Ann Coulter, etc.
Krishna says
I though of sending money on patreon to Robert Spencer but i can’t believe they removed it and many ex muslims who criticise Islam still have working patreon accounts but why did they remove only Robert Spencer account so sad
Mak says
I was a Patreon of Robert. WTF! I feel like dumping all the creators I support now just because of Patreon’s behavior. I also support “The Masked Arab” (check out his channel) and then a bunch of science and engineering channels.
I would hate to hurt other creators and it’s sad that Patreon was in response to YouTubes censorship.
And good thing I’ve never had a Mastercard. I won’t want one now.
revereridesagain says
I can write to Patreon and express my outrage, but how much will they care about an $8 a month supporter of one “starving writer”? I can’t dump her, what good would that do? Change my MasterCard? It’s a debit card, I don’t use credit cards. If I change it to a different card, do I have to do that all over again when the new one pulls some Dhimmi stunt like this too?
But how about those ex-Muslims on Patreon? Do they know about this? Would any of them raise their voices in defense of Robert Spencer, who has put so much into fighting the ideology that caused such suffering in many of their lives?
Lydia Church says
The globalist nazi’s are closing in.
It is obvious.
There is no logic or reasoning with them.
Those are tools they don’t have.
They only have tyranny.
And we have resistance no matter what.
Erika says
YES!!! Definitely all worth the effort. Everything each one of us can do to protest these criminals from violating humans’ rights to freedom of speech needs to be undertaken. If we do not take action peacefully with our money, dollars’, pesos’, yuans’, euros’ or any other currency then don’t complain later. Money is where they will be hurt the most. You are one, 10 others’ that do the same to protest will be 11 more humans’ standing up for our right to freedom of speech. YES!!!
Andy says
Instead of Patreon and Mastercard banning a PATRIOT like Robert Spencer, why don’t they BAN THE TRAITORS in the NFL!!!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1YKl_aG6F8
Brian hoff says
The NFL player have the constitution right to kneed. This man is than member of the KKK.
Greta Sting says
Brian hoff your comment is utterly delusional.
Baucent says
Brian, Brian Brian, your shocking grammar is driving us crazy.
gravenimage says
He has the right to kneel as a private citizen–but not as an employee of the NFL, where he is supposed to do this on own time.
And no–criticizing this hatred of America does not make one a member of the Klan. What rot.
Andy says
‘I Stand For My Flag’ bumper stickers are popping up everywhere
https://www.patriotnewsalerts.com/i-stand-bumper-stickers/?utm_source=boomtrain&utm_medium=automated&utm_campaign=CNA2&utm_source=boomtrain&utm_medium=automated&utm_campaign=CNA2
Andy says
Trump Approval Rating Among Blacks Soars to 36%!!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozthBHMPeYw&t=195s
gravenimage says
+1
Andy says
God bless you Mr. Spencer and thank you for all you have done and are doing in this upside down time in the world we are in. You are a light in a sea of darkness.
The Lord Bless You And Keep You
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-eHCxMM3PI
Do you notice people in society today are like little brainwashed zombies, You try to talk about issues like Islam and people get angry and don’t want to talk or debate about it and start throwing out the racist bigot Islamaphobia card.
No wonder we are in deep trouble, If a society are afraid of words you know you are in for long hard battle ahead.
When they stop your freedom of speech, burning books and then people is not far behind.
Wake up people! I have been saying this since 1997-98!
In all my life I have never seen a time such as now. It truly is frightening. We need at this time ALL PATRIOTS around the globe, To stand and fight, It is now or never!
Our Freedoms are being taken away from us.
Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! — Isaiah 5:20
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFvSiCo8EVo
Andy says
Is There a Christian Revival Going On In Europe?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=isrUpEK6MDA
Andy says
Fascists are coming
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SkfetK0Bqyc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1STUzIi3No
Andy says
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kh7qvsUBFE
Andy says
If you deny to anyone else the right to say what you think is wrong, it will not be long before you will lose the right to say what you think is right. Defense of the freedom of others is self-defense.
Voltaire stated this fact as a genius can: “I wholly disagree with what you say and will contend to the death for your right to say it.”
https://quoteinvestigator.com/2015/06/01/defend-say/
Erika says
Yes and don’t forget the Christian churches joined forces with the vatican city
gravenimage says
I am not the biggest fan of Alex Jones–he is, among other things, a 9/11 “Truther”–but the media and social media platforms going after him the way they are is deeply troubling.
Andy says
+1
Westman says
We, in the US, are experiencing a new phenomena of “private” social media corporations usurping the functions of government. While other national governments tell them to comply with their cultural practices or lose access, the US government smiles and allows unconstitutional actions, and laissez-faire; practically fearful of losing their own access to that media and voters.
Currently, the social media MOTU(Masters Of The Universe) are a greater threat to a constitutional, free America, than our external enemies. Who would ever imagine that Mark Zukerberg would personally have Alex Jones, as weird as his organization is, off facebook – denying equal access while collecting, selling, and losing personal information?
The shoring up of SPLC finances by the social media and left organizations was no accident. The NAACP was too narrow in its objectives. How can it be seen as anything other than an intentional conspiracy to control speech using the SPLC as a reference to boot out controversy?
The time for government to regulate or break up the media masters has passed. Worse, yet, we now have the phenomenon of financial entities determining who may or may not conduct business based on their political view.
So Mastercard will now determine who may buy or sell based on political views? Though agnostic, I vaguely recall something in the Bible about that. That needs congressional attention because it is discrimination based on political viewpoint – which is illegal and perhaps needs some refining.
The best approach may be suing MasterCard for discrimination. It could become a “twofer” if MasterCard references the SPLC. The door is then open to expose any inter-communication with the actors in the SPLC as well as effectively putting the SPLC on trial. It most certainly would damage the MasterCard brand no matter how it plays out since most business is owned by conservatives who have other options.
tpog says
TO ROBERT SPENCER: I LIVE IN CANADA AND JUST TRIED TO DONATE WITH MY CREDIT CARD, THE MESSAGE SAID MY “ZIP” WAS WRONG. THINK THE ONLY WAY NOW IS TO SEND A CHQ WILL YOU EMAIL AN ADDRESS WHERE I CAN FORWARD IT? READING YOUR “HISTORY OF JIHAD” — ALL I CAN SAY IS WOW. KEEP UP YOUR FABULOUS WORK, WE NEED MORE PEOPLE LIKE YOU, ROBERT. GOD BLESS
Duane Staab says
Robert Spencer:
When are you finally going after the SPLC for slander & libel? Are you going to going to complain to the DOJ because of equal protection violations by Patreon and MasterCard?
tony CAPO says
He needs to fight back this is religious discrimination.
Halal bacon says
Dear Patreon, let me explain reality to you, Robert Spencer is anti muslim rape, anti muslim terror, anti muslim honor killing, anti muslim pedophilia etc, if you are against him, then you stand with the perpetrators, pretty plain and simple…
Frank Anderson says
I wonder who owns/controls Patreon? I would also be curious as to who in Mastercard “ordered” the termination.
Mirren10 says
https://www.bloomberg.com/research/stocks/private/snapshot.asp?privcapId=244024196
Note that Goli Sheikholeslami was appointed to the board in April 2018. ”Goli” is a muslim girl’s name.
That probably doesn’t prove she’s a muslim, but one wonders …
Mirren10 says
https://www.quora.com/Who-actually-owns-MasterCard-Visa
I suppose that depends on who the majority shareholders are !
gravenimage says
True, Mirren:
“Patreon Appoints Goli Sheikholeslami, CEO of Chicago Public Media, to its Board of Directors”
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180403005967/en/Patreon-Appoints-Goli-Sheikholeslami-CEO-Chicago-Public
It’s hard to find much information about her, but I can only imagine.
Frau Katze says
What business does she have consorting with a company based on paying interest, if she is indeed a Muslim?
gravenimage says
Muslims do this all the time–they use interest, or drink, or date–but when it comes right down to it, still push the Islamic agenda.
Frau Katze says
Theoretically it could even be the government of some place like Saudi Arabia. They could tell Mastercard that they won’t permit it in their country,
Of course, Muslims are supposed to engage in paying interest, so I wonder: Do these big credit card companies operate in the Muslim world?
Frank Anderson says
Frau Katze, please correct me if I am in error: Are muslims prohibited from charging, collecting or paying interest? At least with other muslims?
To me the far more beneficial effort instead of fighting corruption would be to find other ways to communicate that totally avoid the totalitarian liberal control. If I were RS, I would have talks with both Dick Morris and Glenn Beck, who have substantial experience creating their own “channels”. I might add that Beck is the source of my finding RS and his work, to my great pleasure. This is a time where good people need to collect, even when there may be some differences, to oppose the evil that is coming from all directions. Perhaps each good person can help the others get better.
Joe says
Mastercard most likely is the payment gateway for Patreon. “Payment gateway” is the term that shopping carts used to indicate which bank accepts funds from their shopping cart. Mastercard is threatening to remove Patreon’s payment gateway which would render Patreon as useless to everyone who uses Patreon.
The credit card business is nasty and corrupt. It is full of nepotism and other forms of favoritism. They have to have full permission of the Federal Reserve which is a private institution controlled by several top banks such Citicorp, Chemical Bank, JP Morgan and others.
Removing voices, such as Jihad Watch, who dissent from the narrative seems to be the latest thing with these elitists.
The Federal Reserve is the power leverage. The Federal Reserve likes to associate itself with the government, though it is private. There should be a movement to nationalize the Federal Reserve which would put the American dollar into the hands of the American citizens.
Frank Anderson says
Joe, it is hard to disagree with your reasoning. Other choices must be found or created; or the future looks grim.
Kesselman says
Is it not a bit pretentious to call our society “democratic?” The last decades of still more media concentration in collusion with the Old Globalist Neoliberal Ruling Coalitions (Dems and GOP) have changed the preconditions for democracy.
Dan says
This is flippin’ insane!
We are in an Orwell’s Groupthink/Big Brother world and that’s all there is to it.
Charles says
It’s not because Mastercard or Patreon oppose your information. Its because the overcapitalized SPLC and other “charities” or “philanthropies” have received massive donations from Islamist organizations, and the application of the term “Hate” is now a weaponized, capitalized. “Hate” is selectively applied even to salient criticisms based on funding.
PRODOS says
I’ve written the following note to Patreon ….
– – – – –
Greetings.
I’ve just learned that Patreon has terminated the account of Robert Spencer/JihadWatch.
The reason Patreon has given is that “Mastercard required us to remove his account” because they’ve determined that Robert Spencer/JihadWatch is in breach of Mastercard’s terms of service.
I feel it’s important that Patreon requests further, specific and clear information from Mastercard about this.
Specifically, which part of Mastercard’s terms of service does Mastercard have a problem with. It may even be something that can be corrected if it’s a technical matter.
Or it may be something that can be clarified if there has been some sort of misunderstanding or erroneous misrepresentation.
Thank you for your attention.
Regards,
Prodos S N Marinakis
Melbourne, Australia
Mirren10 says
Well done, Prodos.
I’d like to do the same, do you have an address or email for them ? I’ve googled, but can’t find anything !
PRODOS says
Greetings Mirren10,
This is the form for contacting Patreon support:
https://patreon.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/requests/new?ticket_form_id=70716
You’ll be asked by the form to make selections (“Please choose a request type below”) in order to proceed.
None of the selections offered quite match the kind of thing you want to write to them about — since it’s a non-standard inquiry.
I chose: “I need help with a Patreon account” … and continued from there.
Once you’re done, a support desk ticket will be automatically created — and emailed to you –and you will go into the long queue.
Hope that helps.
🙂
Best Wishes,
PRODOS
Melbourne, Australia
Mirren10 says
Cheers Produs !
Peter says
Time for some wealthy conservatives, particularly ones with connections to Silicon Valley, to start funding tech start-ups that are alternatives to the likes of 2Facedbook, Twister, PayPunk, PinkGoggled, YouCensored, etc… Maybe when they have more competition and start losing about half their subscribers, they will start being more objective and reasonable.
At the same time, policy makers and legislators need to be made to understand the Internet is part of the Public Square, even if run by private entities, and they need to ensure that leftist neo-Marxist group think are NOT allowed to monopolize it or prevent other perspectives from being present, let alone flourishing there.
TWG says
This is jaw dropping, the speed at which we’re becoming a totalitarian society. The left accuses Republicans and Conservatives of threatening democracy, all the while they’re sodomizing it.
And just wait until they get POTUS Trump out of office. They’re going to put the pedal to the metal, throw open the floodgates, and severely restrict (and change) the role of law enforcement.
I feel bad for today’s youth. Their future is quite horrifyng.
Mac-101 says
So True!
Norger says
The SPLC’s characterization of Spencer is completely lacking in substance. Nearly all of their allegations are what lawyers call “conclusory” statements; statements of an ultimate conclusion presented without any explanation of the alleged factual bases. The other (related) thing the SPLC does is to provide quotes from Spencer in which Spencer’s statements/conclusions are presented as though they are obviously false on their face, when it fact they are demonstrably true.
Mac-101 says
Has it ever been investigated how many millions of dollars the SPLC founders have buried in off shore accounts?
Mac-101 says
Crazy, so the hipster multimillionaire San Francisco free spirit who is the CEO of Patreon and the Hindu who controls Master Card both terminate the most informative website on the human rights violations of Islam on the Web? All because they said they had to because of the SPLC? Does Satan control everyone now in power? Pray for Trump that he is at least real and NOT Controlled Opposition!
FYI says
That SPLC ..
Satan’s Private Little Clansmen
The Leftard klansmen of the SPLC don’t get irony:they attack Robert Spencer yet no one has done more to fight AGAINST islamic anti-semitism than Mr Spencer.
One might imagine that the Jewish members of the SPLC Klan would appreciate that fact:but alas,Leftards don’t subscribe to Logic and Reason.
carpediadem says
One might imagine the Christians and Catholics busily importing Muslims into the States might pay attention to Islamic massacres of Christians in the Mid East but alas, you can’t reason with Leftard Christians who get paid millions to resettle Muslims and organise anti Israel boycotts.
WPM says
It is not just Christians, Catholics ,it is liberal Jewish organizations ,and many non-religious non profits {that make great profits} resettling “Islamic refugees., Many people belonging to these churches personal object to their churches policies but are afraid of being called “racist” because they believe in self preservation .I know of no policy for the Catholic church to organize “anti Israel boycotts ‘.Most boycotts are organized by feel good libtards that have no connections to any Christian Church ,if you know of a Christian church that believes in “boycotting Israel or Israel connected goods please respond here .Making a Christian Jewish divide only advances the Islamic take over of Western political organizations.
Cicero says
Who is the “Hindu” who owns Master Card ???
Mac-101 says
I don’t believe I wrote Owned but controls: “One of the best high schools in the world is located in Begumpet, India and it’s the alma mater of some of the most influential business people on earth, including Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen and Mastercard CEO Ajay Banga.” From CNBC.
Rob Crawford says
Look at it this way — by not distinguishing between “anti-jihad” and “anti-Muslim”, the SPLC is admitting that jihad is mainstream Islam. They’re the ones making that assertion, not you.
Frank Anderson says
Not just to RC, but to all who support RS, I have found many times that it is better to find out who are your friends and get away from those who are not. It is a waste of time, resources and effort to mingle with “bought” friends who pretend while they do all they can to control you into their ways. Be glad Patreon and Mastercard exposed themselves and move toward, or create your own friendly places. I have tested this proposition many times and found that it works. We have no time and little money to waste on ????? (call them anything you like). Make new places.
Sharyati says
Robert has ruffled a few major feathers. This confirms he is doing the right thing. Kudos Robert and thanks for your dedication.
boakai ngombu says
keep writing, Robert, while people are still able to read and while publishers still remain.
elee says
That Spencer’s a dangerous radical all right, what with his notions of something called “human rights” for Jews kafirs and women.
The European says
The anti-patriotic and nation-destroying globalist scoundrels are closing in for the kill.
First stage: denigrate and defame all true patriots and critics of Islam, practise social ostracism.
Second stage: ban them from social media platforms, deny them access to social services (Mastercard, Pay Pal, Patreon etc.), impose censorship on them, prevent their books and articles from being published.
Third stage: outlaw dissident movements and parties, curtail civil rights, put traveling bans on them, throw them into jail, prepare re-education centers for patriots and islamophobes, internment camps and goulaks…
Fourth stage: If critical thought of Islam and patriotism are not dead by now, engage in physical elimination, hire killing squads, organise mass shootings…
Nothing of this is new; one has seen it in Nazi Germany, one has seen it in Soviet Russia and Communist China, and now, one is likely to see it in the so-called free world. Very sad, but very predictable,.The globalist and Islam grooming elite will never step down. They can’t be voted out, because they have never been voted into office, they are immensely rich and most powerful men acting from behind the stage, and they don’t care about their nation, democracy or the rule of law. Most politicians are on their payroll, and those may have been elected by the people, but they are not acting on behalf of the people.
Mac-101 says
Well said. It is extremely plain that this is THEIR plan!
StellaSaidSo says
Spot on.
Kesselman says
Well said. It’s the prescription for the dawning Liberal Fascists’ still more enveloping maneuvres to silencing its opponents.
Nani says
Not much point in trying to defend yourself against the perverse ‘logic’ orchestrated by the SPLC and other leftist agents. Anybody unable by now to see how they twist things backwards and who can’t perceive that Islam is the crucible for unending bloody mischief is beyond rational appeal. Sure there’s ‘nice’ Muslims. But–no need to apologise for detesting it–the ideology is fundamentally tainted and dangerous.
ktchnsnk says
Maajid Nawaz got $3 million in damages against SPLC for far less than what they’ve done to you, Robert.
You should be getting the best legal representation you can find on this. I’d bet there are many law firms who’d take them on pro-bono.
Drink Your Brawndo says
7.“Spencer is known to have associations with European racists and neo-fascists. However, he claims that his contact with them is merely incidental.”
I have no associations with European racists or neo-fascists, and never have. I have had some associations with people who were falsely accused of being racist and neo-fascist.
Robert Spencer, Richard Spencer, what’s the difference? The names are almost the same. Guilty by association out of thin air. This is the kind of “logic” from the left, since real logic “be raciss”.
Buraq says
Time to put on an invisible cloak, Mr Spencer – sort of!
Find someone to set up a Patreon account. That party would agree to use videos made by you to be shown on their Patreon channel. That way, you would have no visible connection with the said account.
In the event this new account is closed down for showing your videos, decamp to another Patreon channel set up by yet another like-minded person with the same type of business agreement. Just keep one step ahead.
Being upfront and putting your name on everything is the equivalent of a boxer who leads with his chin!
I wish you and yours all the best! You are a brave man.
Frau Katze says
How about accepting payments using Bitcoin?
joel johnson says
Go to the donate button to help fix the problem
wtd says
According to Wikipedia, this is not Patreon’s first rodeo against opposing viewpoints:
awake says
The global jihad against conservative thought is upon us. The battle has begun and is in full vigor. Silicon Valley in cahoots with the leftist fake news industry has begun the greatest censorship of “free” speech the world has seen to date. Truth is no longer relevant.
PATRICIA KOENIG says
Robert Spencer, this is unjust! Patreon and Master Card are trying to silence the truth. This is more of the dangerous trend of silencing the right and silencing the truth.
wtd says
24 Jul 2018
Stripe, PayPal, Patreon: The Right Is Being Banned from Online Fundraising
https://www.breitbart.com/tech/2018/07/24/stripe-paypal-patreon-the-right-is-being-banned-from-online-fundraising/
The creeping exclusion of the right from online platforms like Twitter and Facebook is well-known, drawing the attention of Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale and the RNC. But a greater challenge is on the horizon: the exclusion of the right from financial services.
Conservatives have long been the target of shadowbans, biased algorithms, and account bans on social media. Not content with silencing their voices online, the left now wants to stop the right from using the web to fundraise. Thanks to the increasing willingness of online fundraising platforms and payment processors to ban clients for political reasons, they are getting their way.
One of the most popular fundraising platforms is Patreon, a site that allows users to collect monthly recurring donations from their supporters. With the decline of ad revenue on platforms like YouTube, Patreon has emerged as an important and effective tool for online content creators to earn a living. In some cases, it can take little more than a hundred fans contributing set amounts per month for a creator to support themselves full-time.
n theory, this creates an environment similar to that of talk radio in the 1980s: a decentralized ecosystem where new creators can quickly establish an independent support base, without relying on gatekeepers in the establishment media. With only their fans to answer to, as opposed to controversy-shy advertisers, it should be the perfect formula for free expression.
There’s just one problem — Patreon itself. Like the rest of Silicon Valley, Patreon has decided it wants to be more than just a neutral platform, and now routinely cuts off income from content creators for political reasons. Chief among them is “hate speech”, which Patreon says it does not tolerate on its platform. It has used “hate speech” as a justification to ban a number of figures on the far-right, including white nationalist Jason Kessler. But although the alt-right is shunned by most, including Breitbart News, the idea that politics should dictate whether someone is allowed to access financial services is even more controversial.
As is often the case, banning extremists was the start of a slippery slope. Patreon’s purge quickly escalated beyond the alt-right to target independent conservative journalists. The latest example is YouTuber and author Brittany Pettibone, who was banned from the platform last month. Patreon cited her support for the European identitarian organization Generation Identity, a group Patreon claims is a “violent organization.” (The organization explicitly disavows political violence.)
Patreon also banned the independent journalist Lauren Southern in 2017 over her work exposing globalist NGOs assisting the illegal trafficking of persons into Europe via the Mediterranean. Patreon said her work could “cause loss of life” by stopping the work of NGO “rescue vessels” — but migrant deaths in the Mediterranean actually fell by 40 percent as attempted crossings declined in the wake of her reporting. Also, if interfering with the illegal activities of NGO vessels in the Mediterranean is unacceptable to Patreon, they should make it clear that the governments of Italy and Malta, which now bar NGO ships from their shores, aren’t welcome on the platform either.
mortimer says
The globalist libtards are grasping at straws. They see the conservative trend. They are losing their control of information.
pumbar says
Maybe try ko-fi Gold as a Patreon substitute?
https://ko-fi.com/gold?ref=homesection
gravenimage says
Patreon and Mastercard ban Robert Spencer without explanation
…………………..
Well, this is just shameful. That Spencer does not even have a Mastercard makes this all the more bizarre.
And while I am no fan of Alex Jones–he is, among other things, a 9/11 “Truther”–the way social media platforms have gone after him is deeply disturbing.
I heard the latest–that he has been suspended from Twitter–in the most troubling way. They had a feature on KCBS, my local newsradio station–and the story was framed as other social media platforms having banned him outright, and so castigating Twitter for “just” having suspended him rather than banning him.
There is a lot of speech I do not like, and much I consider inaccurate, but I think that anyone save those inciting violence should be able to speak freely.
And needless to say, Robert Spencer has never preached violence. They just want to silence an important voice. We need stand up and protest this.
pumbar says
…………………..
Well, this is just shameful. That Spencer does not even have a Mastercard makes this all the more bizarre
…………………
Mastercard handle the financial transactions for patreon. Whether you have a mastercard or not is irrelevant.
gravenimage says
Thank you, Pumbar.
Brian hoff says
Alex Jones brought this upton himself by claiming on infrowar that noone was murdered at Sanding Hook school I hope the parents of the murder children win big time against Alex Jones . This false new from the right must end.
CogitoErgoSum says
People should have the right to say whatever they want to say. If they are maliciously lying they can be taken to court and sued according to slander and libel laws. No need for censorship if the laws concerning slander and libel are followed and a court of law is allowed to decide what is the truth.
gravenimage says
Agreed.
James Lincoln says
I’m not a lawyer but is there any way that Robert Spencer could file a lawsuit against Patreon ???
Frank Anderson says
J.L. a retired lawyer’s opinion: A lawsuit would consume a lot of money, crippling amounts of time and have nothing but results of free publicity for the “bad guys”. What would be the damages? They might be doing all of us a favor to send the program to a more friendly site. What you see on television has nothing to do with the realities of the war that any lawsuit involves. I have spent more than three decades on a suit that had to be filed, and fought to the very last court, all the way to the US Supreme Court, to make sure I was never attacked again by corrupt state officials and others using their power and influence. They left me no choice. RS has a choice and plenty of opportunities to focus on his work of helping us win.
Please consult a currently licensed and practicing attorney in your jurisdiction for legal advice.
James Lincoln says
Mr. Anderson,
Thank you for your detailed and well informed reply.
Frank Anderson says
J.L., with the limitations I have, it’s about the best I can do right now. This is not a place for me to blow smoke, and is a place where I may be able to help some people understand things that I did not until it was too late. We are all learning, if we listen. If we work together it will be easier.
gravenimage says
Thank you, Frank.
Frank Anderson says
GI, I wish to help all of us take better paths and directions to our victory against evil. I hope that where I write in error that I will be corrected for the benefit of the entire community who reads here.
gravenimage says
Frank, I always find your information very useful and enlightening.
Brian hoff says
Pizzagate was totally fake new the local police investigate it and found no evidences of wrong doing. Then than rightwing nutjob from the south show up armed with than rifle and shotgun treaten the coustom in the pizza place.
Mac-101 says
The contents of Podesta’s emails are not. Either Wikileaks is wrong about the 1 out of 11 thousand, or ALL the talkin heads are afraid to discuss it let alone investigate what allegedly is in it.
.
As for investigations, Hillary was let off and hers is as blatant a crime that can ever be!
StellaSaidSo says
I see the Muslim ‘Brian Hoff’ is defending pedophilia again.
gravenimage says
No surprise there.
Arthur says
When PayPal dropped JihadWatch, I dropped PayPal.
I wasn’t on Patreon, but won’t be from here on out.
I stand with Robert Spencer! All the way to the bitter end.
I figured it would be the banks that started deciding what we could spend our money on. Cash is increasingly restricted so that we must beg permission to spend our “own” money. “Own” because according to legal agreements, once you put your money in a bank, it belongs to the bank and they just “owe” you.
They are taking our freedom to buy and sell away–which will ultimately take our all our freedoms away.
Mac-101 says
You will be neither able to buy or sell without the Mark of the Beast!
Infidelus CNNicus says
Too bad I can’t plop thereligionofpeace.com’s deadly-jihad-attacks-since-9/11/01 counter (currently at 32,248 but sure to rise by the end of the day) here to show Patreon and MasterCard what the civilized world is up against. I for one will never use Patreon due to all their leftist tactics I’ve read about, and am considering ending my 20+ year relationship with MasterCard. Big Tech can easily be beaten at their own game. (And someone ought to tap them on the shoulder and tell them about Islamic banking rules forbidding interest on loans. These banks think they’re welcoming in a whole new lucrative group of potential customers, but they’re in for a rude awakening.)
gravenimage says
It’s even worse than that–the number right now is 33,599 Jihad terror attacks.
Robert says
Just read the MasterCard’s response to Breitbart’s request for further information. MasterCard’s response was very generic. However, MasterCard stated that Jihadi Watch violated a law without mentioning what law/laws they violated. Two, MasterCard used “acquire” without giving a clear definition. This means that a Satanic Worshiping Islamic actor/nation pushed for an real country’s (the USA) financial company to submit and suck the dick of an islamist. When are REAL humans going to start to fucking kill ALL nonhuman muslims?
gravenimage says
Yes–this from Mastercard is clear as mud.
juniebjones says
Just add Mastercard/Patreon to the list of companies that should never get one dime of your hard-earned money, a list that already includes (and please add the ones I missed!): Apple; Facebook; PayPal; Chase; JP Morgan; Dick’s Sporting Goods; Mozilla/Firefox … and on and on. Buy local.
Ian H says
Tortious interference, also known as intentional interference with contractual relations, in the common law of torts, occurs when one person intentionally damages someone else’s contractual or business relationships with a third party causing economic harm.
No Fear says
Ditto.
Frank Anderson says
Ian H, that is the absolutely correct answer from any undergraduate or graduate torts or contracts course. I suspect any licensed and practicing lawyer would be careful in advising that a lawsuit should be filed until the issue of damages could be better defined. As most of the law related to torts varies from state to state as do the questions of “offers to settle” and other maneuvers to set up a plaintiff to pay dearly if he doesn’t win, the hornbook answer can get an eager plaintiff in a bind.
One of the very best pieces of advice I ever received came from a lifelong friend of a friend who represented a Very Big Name in their time: “Does this action put money in my pocket or take it out?” If the action takes money out, is some other goal advanced by the expense? Involvement in a lawsuit could easily prevent other more productive activities that accomplish the goals of informing people of the ongoing jihad against all of those who value liberty. Would years lost in litigation be recovered by any monetary judgment that may or may not ever be collected?
In addition to my compliance with bar rules, this kind of need for local and specific analysis is the reason for “consulting a currently licensed attorney who in practicing in your jurisdiction” being a frequent part of my comments. Avoiding a disaster is worth a reasonable fee for a consultation. A lawyer who has both won and lost similar cases will give far better and more helpful advice than one who has never tried such an epic claim. Please consider. . . .
Xavier Basora says
Robert,
I’m sure you’ve discussed your removal with the lawyers. I wonder if an individual can file under RICO and the anti monopoly laws? This clearly sounds like a shakedown as well as engaging in anticompetitive practices
Frank Anderson says
X.B., RICO can be viewed by searching 18 United States Code Section 1961 and following. There are several *old* cases addressing RICO, including “concurrent jurisdiction” in federal and state courts. See, e.g. Cianci v. Superior Court, 710 P.2d 375 (Cal. 1985). Possibly the best early case for private party civil RICO claims would be Sedima, S.P.R.L. v. Imrex, 473 U.S. 479, 488 (1985). I believe if you check (whatever passes for “Shepardizing” today) you may find those cases have been severely limited or overruled altogether as far as private plaintiffs are concerned. (Speculation: Too many influential people and companies were getting burned with private RICO suits.)
It would not surprise me if AntiTrust laws could have some application. But the Sherman and Clayton Acts really need advice from the best available experienced lawyers to avoid a costly mess.
Please consult a currently licensed attorney practicing in your jurisdiction for legal advice.
Sylvia says
What about, minds.com ? This open source code social networking site was started in 2011 I believe.
Founder and CEO is one Bill Ottman.
Purportedly the site stands for all opinions left or right and is a combination of Facebook, You Tube and Twitter. They say they will not censor or subvert legally protected speech.
Minds has become popular for its commitment to privacy, decentralization, optional anonymity, radical transparency, free speech, and user rewards in contrast to the surveillance, secrecy, censorship, and algorithm manipulation occurring on many proprietary social networks.
Users have grown to 1.25 million as of this month.
The link takes you to the Beginner’s Guide to Minds.com
https://blockonomi.com/minds-com-guide/
Carol says
Robert,
I just heard a video from Sargon of Akkad who spoke about your situation with Patreon, and am sorry to hear about this for you. He was impressed on how well you handled the reporters in Australia. He gave some alternatives to You-Tube, and other social media, before he is driven out too. He’s already being attacked.
He said that we are a target if we supported President Trump or are conservative, and was concerned about the Presidents’ silence on this Too bad there isn’t a way to stop SPLC and other far left groups from ruining people’s lives with their lies or propaganda. You’d think there would be a law against this. Anyway, I pray that this gets settled somehow.
TJFreedomjihad says
More than sorry to hear this, Robert. Your work is and has always been stellar, and professionally conducted, at the consistently highest levels!
We seem to be effectively in a full on war, non-physical for the most part, so far, but clearly with the unseen hand of evil pulling the anti-American strings all the way.
An accidentally wealthy group of ignorant anti-American greedy globalists, greedy to increase power, control, and funds, becoming worse.
Fortunately, so far, I have no mastercard, only a visa. You may depend on at least my avoidance of anything mastercard, and patreon, too, along with all verbal counter measures of truth workable. And my bank is conservatively owned.
Remember, Dinesh related how we the public corrected the Costco misbehavior of anti-Americanism on the part of the leftist management, on the publishing of his previous book!!!
C’mon commenters, we need to start up countermeasures……
Having seen the misbehavior of even the Koch bros. recently, we have a major battle, against the globalist evil establishment, including all the several dozen Soros funded fascist, totalitarian, marxist organizations.
CS says
Keep fighting the good fight Robert, and all of us.
Baucent says
A sinister development and one we will see more of in the future. First they will ban high profile people and organizations that offend the Left, next will come banning anyone who is in anyway “conservative”.
The only way to fight this is by the same tactics, stop using the services of the companies themselves, and tell them.
Paul Weston says
We are not yet fully totalitarian in the West, but we are being subjected to ever more authoritarian control and the final destination can only be total repression. I have been banned by Twitter for contravening their “hate speech” guidelines but when questioned they could give me no specific details at all. This morning I received a notification from YouTube that a video was being taken down for “inciting hatred” which co-incidentally was taken in 2014 at a SION conference in Stockholm involving Robert Spencer as well! YT informed me this was the first of “three strikes and you’re banned” so I decided to pre-empt them and remove all my historical videos as YT is clearly out to get me. But even as I was deleting them, they kept on coming back! Presumably some YT operative was re-instating them in order to give them a reason to hit me with two more strikes followed by the banning of my channel. And we know the social media platforms are behaving in this way at the behest of our political class, so it really does smack of totalitarianism. We have no influence in Britain with our current collection of quisling politicians, but I do hope President Trump starts putting some pressure on YT etc in the USA.
Ann Marie says
So sorry, Mr. Spencer that this has happened. The left is scared, so scared that instead of doing things undercover, they’re out in the open, where people can see it.
In one way this is good. We can now fight back in the open. They’ve exposed themselves as the evil they are. Their dogma states:” their way or no way…” Because you’re not backing down, they’re becoming more desperate and their actions are showing it..
In the long run, they’ll lose… I know it doesn’t seem that way now, but they’ll lose..
Steven Lohr says
I just sent an inquiry to Mastercard ( https://www.mastercard.us/en-us/ask-mastercard-webform.html ) It reads:
Here’s a question: It appears that Mastercard has been accused of working to de-platform Robert Spencer. See https://www.jihadwatch.org/2018/08/patreon-and-mastercard-ban-robert-spencer-without-explanation . Is this true? What is Mastercard’s position on this issue? If I don’t hear from you in one week, I will be ending all association with Mastercard for permanently and advertising this fact on all social media. Regards,
XXX
Francis Merde says
Welp, it sounds like Robert managed to piss off some Islamic sheik enough that they weaponized the credit card system against him. Here’s what I think went down.
1) Some big Islamic Interest (it would be hilarious if it was the head of an entire country, but sadly we’ll never know who it was) calls up Mastercard and says if this person doesn’t get removed from Patreon they won’t do business with them anymore.
2) Mastercard, not wanting to risk losing volume business over one guy who they probably don’t even know or care about, put the thumbscrews to Patreon.
3) Patreon, not wanting to risk losing access to Mastercard over one guy who they probably don’t even know or care about, delete Spencer’s account.
In a way, this is the biggest admission of defeat I’ve ever seen. In effect, the other side has conceded that they can’t debunk Robert’s arguments anymore, so they have to use roundabout ways to shut him up, like taking away monetary support via the financial equivalent of a game of telephone. Unreal.
Tom S. says
Robert: You made front top big at Breitbart this morning over this! The rooks are trying to take our knight off the board.
Daniel says
I will send u a check…
Dapto says
Sieg Heil MASTERCLASS
Francis Merde says
Oh and if there is a silver lining to this, I’d like to remind people that the Streisand Effect is real, and in the long run this fiasco will lead to more people getting exposed to Robert’s work.
Maran says
Why are we not using terms we should have in common use.; Christianphobia, Jewishphobia and Trumphobia.
Why have we failed to recognise that we are so often the VICTIMS, of intimidation, verbal assault, discrimination, vilification, personal attack, acid attack, child abuse and murder, to name but a few.
Words are strong, more so if they are true, and not just created to shore up a false narrative.
Why is it taking so long to get an alternative to Facebook, Google, and a few others set-up? I’m certain many of us would be glad to contribute a small monthly fee to such sites.
Geoff M says
Surely if they see something that could be illegal it should be reported to the police and decided in the courts. How can MasterCard be judge, jury and prosecutor?
Its following a pattern…ban, block, unsubscribe BUT they never say what is the offending action. We can only conclude that its political, not criminal.
If the swamp isn’t drained soon the West will be lost.
ProudKuffar says
How about Paypal.me?
Money Order? Western Union?
I am trying to help a fellow kuffar out to monetize our work for God.
Yashar says
The left does whatever it wants because there’s no real force against them. For example, there are now alternative social media, such as Gab, BitChute and Minds, that truly respect free speech, but still most conservative/nationalist/anti-left forces prefer to only use lefty social media instead. Why? If you refuse to use and support pro-free speech social media, you lose the right to whine about the left’s war on free speech.
Mac-101 says
I’m sure if the conservative talkin heads would request that their listeners use a certain platform it would take off. Why don’t they git tighter and chose an alternative for each one? A libertarian platform which would embrace ALL ideas and allow for DOWN Votin also!
Zenobia van Dongen says
Dear Mr. Spencer:
Two hyperlinks are missing from an article you wrote in 2015.
In “51% of US muslims want sharia”, by Robert Spencer, October 16, 2015
https://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/260473/51-us-muslims-want-sharia-robert-spencer
you wrote:
“Investigative journalist Paul Sperry reported during the Carson brouhaha that ‘Muslims living in the U.S….just this June told Polling Co. they preferred having ‘the choice of being governed according to Shariah,’ or Islamic law.’ He also noted ‘the 60% of Muslim-Americans under 30 who told Pew Research they’re more loyal to Islam than America.’”
However both hyperlinks are dead, so the sources of the statements are not disclosed.
Since the statement “51% of US Muslims want sharia” is quite controversial, I think you should repair the missing hyperlinks promptly.
Sincerely, Zenobia van Dongen
Robert Spencer says
Hello Zenobia van Dongen. There are over 60,000 posts on this site, going back to 2003. If I tried to keep all the links alive in every one of them, I would do nothing else. The information you seek is readily available online and easily found with a few Internet searches.
Ade Fegan says
the truth is haram
private says
A friend send me this link, I had never heard of you or your site before. Not sure what to think about either, but regardless of that – the allegations by the SPLC are quite something. I recommend that you start a gofundme campaign to raise legal fees and defend your name in court. This will only get worse unless you fight back. Providing of course gofundme won’t kick you off as well. If they do, that wouldn’t be all bad, because the more this happens the more the public will find out that freedom of speech is under threat through multiple ways of attack. Also, as the number of affected parties increases, you might to consider joining forces with each other for the purpose of presenting a broad front together in this, rather than just having the odd one out report of their experience here or there, which basically amounts to nothing.
Btw, this may be of interest http://www.openlettertopatreon.com
mrjohn says
i sent them a little note:
Little did i know this plastic square in my wallet has a political agenda. i heard you have censored Robert Spenser. i will be taking my business elsewhere.
More Ham Ed says
Hello, just posting a comment to say I still support Robert & JW although posting a little less often these days. I’m fighting the propaganda war mainly on other forums/outlets this year. Few people counter false accusations as DETAILED as what Robert Spencer documents. Just a quick post, gotta go make a ham sandwich.