Responding To Public Pressure

On Saturday, Fox Business reported that GoFundMe had reversed its decision to redistribute the donations made to the Canadian truck drivers protesting vaccine mandates and other Covid restrictions. GoFundMe was planning to redistribute the donations made for the truckers to other organizations.

The article reports:

Facing a potential fraud investigation by the state of Florida, GoFundMe reversed a decision to redistribute money given by thousands of donors to the Canadian “Freedom Convoy” protesting COVID-19 regulations.

On Friday, the crowdfunding platform GoFundMe froze the convoy’s official campaign, claiming law enforcement convinced the company that the convoy had become violent and unlawful.

GoFundMe encouraged donors to submit a refund form, and said that any funds not properly returned to donors would be donated to a charity chosen by the Freedom Convoy.

Within hours, however, GoFundMe walked back the refund applications, instead announcing it would be refunding donors automatically.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said that he would “investigate” the company, accusing them of fraud.

The article concludes:

Critics of the company’s haphazard cancellation include Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who questioned whether there is a “double-standard,” given past fundraisers for legal funds in defense of antifa members and criminal protesters.

There is a double standard. There is also the fact that organizations should not be able to take donations for one case and channel them to another cause. Good for Governor DeSantis for standing up to the attempted theft of charitable donations.