5 ms·

That can not be actually what happened is it? That would be insane. It should be against the law to privately retaliate like this.

bethekidyouwant 9mo ago
Yes, as the comments point out, he has 11 K followers and this is most likely a coincidence
- pydry 9mo ago
  I was about to agree with you until i noticed that the bank was backed by peter thiel. It seems pretty in character and it's not like there is another more plausible reason being offered.
  - gruez 9mo ago
    >It seems pretty in character and it's not like there is another more plausible reason being offered. In character of what, that Thiel is a mustache twirling villain? Did other companies backed by him have a history of banning his critics? >It seems pretty in character and it's not like there is another more plausible reason being offered. By his own admission, neobanks have a history of banning clients arbitrarily without recourse. My guess it's run of the mill incompetence, not oppressing Thiel's critics.
    - josephcsible 9mo ago
      > neobanks have a history of banning clients arbitrarily without recourse. Not just neobanks, sadly. Even old-fashioned banks like Chase do so with alarming regularity.
    - dust42 9mo ago
      Well, he destroyed Gawker. Not that I think they were good people. But it was definitely a personal vendetta.
      - gruez 9mo ago
        Gawker was a well known website with 23 million visit per month, and a Wikipedia page. This guy has 44k subscribers and no Wikipedia page. It's a stretch to go from "Thiel had a vendetta against Gawker" to "Thiel had a vendetta against this guy".
        pydry 9mo ago
        By contrast this involved flipping a switch. It was extremely easy.
        gruez 9mo ago
        If that were true you'd see much more people getting banned than one streamer with 44k subs.
        pydry 9mo ago
        You seem to be assuming that this is a large bank.
    - pixl97 9mo ago
      >hat Thiel is a mustache twirling villain? I mean it's pretty common these days to see that billionaires can be thin skinned little twerps that hold a vendetta. Elon Musk is the biggest example of one that shows up and talks shit when someone tries to hurt his feefees. Now, if you're powerful but not quite as dumb as Elon can be socially, you're not going to do the work yourself. You'll have a social media management team that takes care of the work for you.
    - giraffe_lady 9mo ago
      > In character of what, that Thiel is a mustache twirling villain? Well, yes, exactly. Sorry it's that simple & unsatisfying but it absolutely is.
    - 12_throw_away 9mo ago
      > In character of what, that Thiel is a mustache twirling villain? I mean, yes? You don't amass billions of dollars with subtlety? [1] https://www.inc.com/jeff-bercovici/peter-thiel-young-blood.html https://www.inc.com/jeff-bercovici/peter-thiel-young-blood.h... [2] https://theintercept.com/2017/02/22/how-peter-thiels-palantir-helped-the-nsa-spy-on-the-whole-world/ https://theintercept.com/2017/02/22/how-peter-thiels-palanti... (not that I think TFA here is very likely to be true)
    - turtlesdown11 9mo ago
      > In character of what, that Thiel is a mustache twirling villain? Yes, Peter Theil is a mustache twirling villain, I thought this was common knowledge?
    - browningstreet 9mo ago
      > In character of what, that Thiel is a mustache twirling villain? I just did a ctrl-F on this page and nowhere was the word "Paypal" included. So I'm including it.
dust42 9mo ago
There are now quite a few cases in Europe where the EU or local govs been de-banking individuals. No court, no judge needed. Much more efficient way to shut down critics. We ain't need no people who delegitimize those in power.
- orwin 9mo ago
  Can we have a link? In France, at most you can get your account restricted (can't go into deficit and a sum is blocked) until the issue is resolved (99% because of unpaid taxes, sometimes the money is blocked by a judge until a judgement is passed). It's weird if the EU don't have a standard.
  - Luhrel 9mo ago
    Look at what happened to Jacques Baud because he criticized the EU on the Ukranian war and is now considered a "pro-russia" and propagating "disinformation". [1] I read what he wrote ("L’art de la guerre russe, comment l’Occident a conduit l’Ukraine à l’échec"), you can download it temporarily here : [2]. His book is absolutely not pro-russia nor pro-EU. [1] https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/various/former-swiss-intelligence-officer-to-appeal-eu-sanctions-for-pro-russia-propaganda/90682626 https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/various/former-swiss-intelligen... [2] https://www.swisstransfer.com/d/0117e2b4-8e70-4343-8097-7bfe11bfe405 https://www.swisstransfer.com/d/0117e2b4-8e70-4343-8097-7bfe...
    - Wilya 9mo ago
      The guy has a "Conspiracy theory and disinformation" section in his wikipedia page, that mentions 9/11. Come on. That's your "totally not pro-russia" example ?
      - Ferret7446 9mo ago
        So being pro Russia justifies de-banking?
  - ThePowerOfFuet 9mo ago
digiown 9mo ago
If banks have to insert themselves into every transaction (cash is banned for larger transactions), then it follows that debanking should be viewed as a legal instrument of punishment, and should only be allowed following a violation of the law, and subject to the usual due process like fines or prison sentences. Anything else is a significant infringement on personal freedom. Also, "freezing" the funds without a court judgement or the opportunity of retrieving them is effectively theft. If you didn't pay the parking fees on my property for a couple days, it's not legal for me to just boot or chain it or hide it somewhere (at least in the US), and I think the same should go here.

bethekidyouwant 9mo ago

Yes, as the comments point out, he has 11 K followers and this is most likely a coincidence

pydry 9mo ago
I was about to agree with you until i noticed that the bank was backed by peter thiel. It seems pretty in character and it's not like there is another more plausible reason being offered.
- gruez 9mo ago
  >It seems pretty in character and it's not like there is another more plausible reason being offered. In character of what, that Thiel is a mustache twirling villain? Did other companies backed by him have a history of banning his critics? >It seems pretty in character and it's not like there is another more plausible reason being offered. By his own admission, neobanks have a history of banning clients arbitrarily without recourse. My guess it's run of the mill incompetence, not oppressing Thiel's critics.
  - josephcsible 9mo ago
    > neobanks have a history of banning clients arbitrarily without recourse. Not just neobanks, sadly. Even old-fashioned banks like Chase do so with alarming regularity.
  - dust42 9mo ago
    Well, he destroyed Gawker. Not that I think they were good people. But it was definitely a personal vendetta.
    - gruez 9mo ago
      Gawker was a well known website with 23 million visit per month, and a Wikipedia page. This guy has 44k subscribers and no Wikipedia page. It's a stretch to go from "Thiel had a vendetta against Gawker" to "Thiel had a vendetta against this guy".
      - pydry 9mo ago
        By contrast this involved flipping a switch. It was extremely easy.
        gruez 9mo ago
        If that were true you'd see much more people getting banned than one streamer with 44k subs.
        pydry 9mo ago
        You seem to be assuming that this is a large bank.
  - pixl97 9mo ago
    >hat Thiel is a mustache twirling villain? I mean it's pretty common these days to see that billionaires can be thin skinned little twerps that hold a vendetta. Elon Musk is the biggest example of one that shows up and talks shit when someone tries to hurt his feefees. Now, if you're powerful but not quite as dumb as Elon can be socially, you're not going to do the work yourself. You'll have a social media management team that takes care of the work for you.
  - giraffe_lady 9mo ago
    > In character of what, that Thiel is a mustache twirling villain? Well, yes, exactly. Sorry it's that simple & unsatisfying but it absolutely is.
  - 12_throw_away 9mo ago
    > In character of what, that Thiel is a mustache twirling villain? I mean, yes? You don't amass billions of dollars with subtlety? [1] https://www.inc.com/jeff-bercovici/peter-thiel-young-blood.html https://www.inc.com/jeff-bercovici/peter-thiel-young-blood.h... [2] https://theintercept.com/2017/02/22/how-peter-thiels-palantir-helped-the-nsa-spy-on-the-whole-world/ https://theintercept.com/2017/02/22/how-peter-thiels-palanti... (not that I think TFA here is very likely to be true)
  - turtlesdown11 9mo ago
    > In character of what, that Thiel is a mustache twirling villain? Yes, Peter Theil is a mustache twirling villain, I thought this was common knowledge?
  - browningstreet 9mo ago
    > In character of what, that Thiel is a mustache twirling villain? I just did a ctrl-F on this page and nowhere was the word "Paypal" included. So I'm including it.

dust42 9mo ago

There are now quite a few cases in Europe where the EU or local govs been de-banking individuals. No court, no judge needed. Much more efficient way to shut down critics. We ain't need no people who delegitimize those in power.

orwin 9mo ago
Can we have a link? In France, at most you can get your account restricted (can't go into deficit and a sum is blocked) until the issue is resolved (99% because of unpaid taxes, sometimes the money is blocked by a judge until a judgement is passed). It's weird if the EU don't have a standard.
- Luhrel 9mo ago
  Look at what happened to Jacques Baud because he criticized the EU on the Ukranian war and is now considered a "pro-russia" and propagating "disinformation". [1] I read what he wrote ("L’art de la guerre russe, comment l’Occident a conduit l’Ukraine à l’échec"), you can download it temporarily here : [2]. His book is absolutely not pro-russia nor pro-EU. [1] https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/various/former-swiss-intelligence-officer-to-appeal-eu-sanctions-for-pro-russia-propaganda/90682626 https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/various/former-swiss-intelligen... [2] https://www.swisstransfer.com/d/0117e2b4-8e70-4343-8097-7bfe11bfe405 https://www.swisstransfer.com/d/0117e2b4-8e70-4343-8097-7bfe...
  - Wilya 9mo ago
    The guy has a "Conspiracy theory and disinformation" section in his wikipedia page, that mentions 9/11. Come on. That's your "totally not pro-russia" example ?
    - Ferret7446 9mo ago
      So being pro Russia justifies de-banking?
- ThePowerOfFuet 9mo ago

digiown 9mo ago

If banks have to insert themselves into every transaction (cash is banned for larger transactions), then it follows that debanking should be viewed as a legal instrument of punishment, and should only be allowed following a violation of the law, and subject to the usual due process like fines or prison sentences. Anything else is a significant infringement on personal freedom. Also, "freezing" the funds without a court judgement or the opportunity of retrieving them is effectively theft. If you didn't pay the parking fees on my property for a couple days, it's not legal for me to just boot or chain it or hide it somewhere (at least in the US), and I think the same should go here.