GoFundMe says a fundraiser that’s collected millions of dollars for vaccine mandate protesters is “still compliant” with its terms of service despite vowing to remove campaigns that contribute to vaccine misinformation, support travel to political events where there’s a risk of violence, or otherwise violate its rules.
In the past two weeks, supporters of a group of Canadian truckers protesting vaccine mandates have raised more than $7.8 million on the crowdfunding platform, one of the biggest campaigns in its history. Known as the “Freedom Convoy 2022,” the campaign has supported a network of truckers traveling across Canada protesting what they describe as authoritarian government overreach in the form of COVID rules, despite concerns and warnings from law enforcement and business owners. The cause has quickly become a boon for right-wing media in Canada and the US, which have helped amplify the campaign across social media.
The caravan started in January as a small protest against a recent vaccine mandate that requires truckers entering the country to be fully vaccinated or to follow testing and quarantine rules. But thanks to leaders with alt-right and fringe ties, it rapidly evolved into a massive, well-organized grassroots operation with multiple convoys and leaders, who have been hosting freedom rallies much like the pro-Trump and “Stop the Steal” gatherings in the US. Some members have also now been accused of harassing people at a homeless shelter, desecrating war memorials and monuments, waving racist flags and swastikas, snarling traffic, and obstructing a US–Canadian border crossing. The movement has forced businesses and vaccine clinics to close due to the outpouring of maskless protesters. In Ottawa, where thousands of convoy supporters converged this past weekend for a demonstration, a popular mall has, according to the Retail Council of Canada, lost millions of dollars in revenue due to the protest.
Truckers and organizers, however, insist their demonstrations have remained peaceful and amicable, sharing videos of participants at rallies singing, cooking, picking up trash, and clearing icy sidewalks.
On Wednesday, GoFundMe paused and is reviewing the campaign “to ensure it complies with our terms of service and applicable laws and regulations.” In the past, GoFundMe ended the mega “We the People Will Build the Wall” campaign after organizer Brian Kolfage changed the terms for how the money would be used. It’s possible that GoFundMe is now asking how organizers plan to use the millions in donations since the amount raised would far exceed what’s necessary to cover food and transportation for truckers. And while pausing the campaign and putting it under review significantly hinders its fundraising, it does not end it. GoFundMe has said it has already distributed $1 million of the funds after organizers explained how the money would be used.
In response to questions from BuzzFeed News Wednesday evening, GoFundMe sent a statement explaining that it has been closely monitoring the campaign “to ensure the funds are going to the intended recipients and that the fundraiser remains within [its] Terms of Service.” The company said it requested more information from organizers and that they were “still compliant” with the rules, implying that the campaign had already been reviewed and that the site paused donations as it waited for a response.
At the time of its creation, GoFundMe said the Freedom Convoy campaign did not violate its rules regarding violence.
