by Debra Heine at American Greatness
For the second time in a week, GoFundMe has paused the fundraising page for the Canadian Freedom Convoy.
“This fundraiser is currently paused and under review to ensure it complies with our terms of service and applicable laws and regulations,” a notice at the top of the convoy’s GoFundMe page reads. “Our team is working 24/7 and doing all we can to protect both organizers and donors. Thank you for your patience.”
The fundraiser had just surpassed an incredible $10 million on Wednesday, an amount that far exceeds the total raised by Canada’s major political parties last quarter, according to Fox News.
GoFundMe initially held on to the funds last week, requesting transparency regarding “the flow of funds” and how they money would be spent.
Then the Freedom Convoy fundraisers announced on Friday that GoFundMe had begun to pay out the funds, starting with the first payment of $1 million in Canadian dollars.
GoFundMe explained its latest action against the Freedom Convoy fundraising page in a blog post.
“Recent events in Ottawa, Canada, have generated widespread discussion about the Freedom Convoy 2022 fundraiser on GoFundMe. We wanted to provide clarity around the actions that our global Trust & Safety and Customer Care teams take every day, just as they have with the Freedom Convoy fundraiser,” GoFundMe wrote in part.
“As the activity surrounding the protest evolves, we have been monitoring the fundraiser to ensure the funds are going to the intended recipients and that the fundraiser remains within our Terms of Service. Our monitoring includes maintaining close communication with the organizer as well as collaborating with local law enforcement,” GoFundMe said.
“This process takes time and may slow down the withdrawal process. If the fundraiser does violate our Terms of Service or does not directly benefit the intended beneficiary, we will remove it from the platform,” the site added…
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