Buy Me a Coffee, an online crowdfunding service for creators, has immediately reacted to a new report showing how far-right influencers were raising money on its platform.
Dozens of influential figures in the QAnon conspiracy community have been banned from the Buy Me a Coffee platform, which allows users to drop one-off payments as well as recurring subscriptions in order to support their favorite creators. Other prominent online right-wing figures, including some of those who took part in the January 6 insurrection at the Capitol, have also been suspended from the platform.
The move from Buy Me a Coffee comes in response to a new report from Media Matters for America that detailed some of the largest QAnon figures on the platform. QAnon is a far right-wing conspiracy theory whose followers believe that former President Donald Trump is fighting a secret war against a globalist cabal of baby-eating human-traffickers made up of Hollywood elites and Trump's political enemies. QAnon believers became increasingly violent over the years, prompting warnings from the FBI. Many social media platforms, like Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter, banned QAnon content over the past few years. (Twitter has since allowed many formerly suspended QAnon users back on the platform under its new owner, Elon Musk.)
According to Media Matters, some of the QAnon figures that were using Buy Me a Coffee include Charlie Freak, Liz Crokin, and RedPill78. Other far-right figures found in the report include Patrick Casey and Baked Alaska. The more than two dozen accounts in Media Matters' report, including the ones just mentioned, have all been removed from the Buy Me a Coffee platform.
In total, these far-right accounts had raised close to $200,000 through Buy Me a Coffee before they were removed.
"We strongly condemn hate groups and have a moderation team who take them down on a daily basis, even before they make any money," said Buy Me a Coffee CEO Jijo Sunny in a statement provided to Media Matters. "This is sometimes overridden when people pretend to be someone else to raise money. We will continue to be extra cautious and take action as soon as it's noticed or reported."
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