By Alice Seeley
Popular fundraising website, GoFundMe, froze a fundraising campaign for “The Freedom Convoy,” a group of Canadian truckers protesting their country’s COVID-19 vaccine requirements right after it had reached $7.9 million. GoFundMe cited police reports and claimed the demonstration was unlawful.
On Feb. 4th, GoFundMe said it has “evidence from law enforcement that the previously peaceful demonstration has become an occupation, with police reports of violence and other unlawful activity. Following a review of relevant facts and multiple discussions with local law enforcement and city officials, this fundraiser is now in violation of our Terms of Service (Term 8, which prohibits the promotion of violence and harassment) and has been removed from the platform.”
GoFundMe initially released 1 million dollars from the campaign to the Freedom Convoy last week after the group provided a clear distribution plan and confirmed that they would only be used for those participating in a peaceful protest.
“Organizers provided a clear distribution plan for the initial $1M that was released earlier this week and confirmed funds would be used only for participants who traveled to Ottawa to participate in a peaceful protest. Given how this situation has evolved, no further funds will be directly distributed to the Freedom Convoy organizers,” GoFundMe said in a statement.
No more funds will be directly distributed to the Freedom Convoy organizers. At first, GoFundMe planned for the remaining funds to be donated to credible and established charities chosen by the Freedom Convoy organizers and verified by GoFundMe unless donors submit a request for a full refund.
However, GoFundMe quickly walked back its plans. The fundraising platform released another statement less than 24 hours later, saying it will “be simplifying the process and will automatically refund all contributions directly — donors do not need to submit a request.”
Despite the second statement, American politicians are outraged and are vowing to investigate GoFundMe’s original plans for redistributing the donations. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry, West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) all announced they would look into the matter.
Sen. Cruz even asked the Federal Trade Commission to investigate GoFundMe into whether they have committed deceptive trade practices.
