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Washington Post reporter tries to shut down border wall GoFundMe — and gets denied
December 20, 2018
Then complains about the blowback
A Washington Post reporter attempted to pressure GoFundMe to shut down a donation page raising money to build President Donald Trump's promised border wall, but was denied.
The donation page titled, "We the People Will Fund the Wall," was created by triple-amputee Air Force veteran Brian Kolfage. It has reached $8 million in donations, but has set $5 billion as its goal.
Tony Romm posted his concerns about the border wall donation page to his Twitter account.
"So there's an effort on GoFundMe to raise cash money for a border wall," tweeted Romm. "Has more than $5M in donations (seeking $1B) and claims to have contacts in the Trump admin (have asked for more)."
"But it got me thinking: is that, like, allowed on the site?" asked Romm.
So there's an effort on GoFundMe to raise cash money for a border wall. Has more than $5M in donations (seeking $1B) and claims to have contacts in the Trump admin (have asked for more). But it got me thinking: is that, like, allowed on the site? (1/3)
— Tony Romm (@TonyRomm) December 20, 2018
Romm explained that he believed the donation page was in violation of the site's rules against intolerance.
"GoFundMe terms prohibit attempts to raise cash money rooted in 'intolerance of any kind relating to race, ethnicity, national origin, religious affiliation, sexual orientation, sex, gender or gender identity, or serious disabilities or diseases,' among other limits," he tweeted.
Romm, who is a technology policy reporter, said that a spokesperson from the donation crowdfunding site told him the project was not in violation of their terms.
So I asked GoFundMe if this wall fundraiser violates that. Spox: "This campaign does not violate our terms of service. The funds are safely held by our payment processor and we will work with the organizer to transfer funds" or return them if target isn't met (3/3)
— Tony Romm (@TonyRomm) December 20, 2018
Romm then complained that his attempt to kill the donation page was being misrepresented as politically motivated on Twitter.
the state of our discourse is such that this thread -- which merely explores the funding campaign in the context of the site's ToS -- is a political lightning rod. somehow the most boring legalese has turned into a rallying cry for a certain set of users to go on the attack https://t.co/Mo6Cfppm2F
— Tony Romm (@TonyRomm) December 20, 2018
"[S]omehow the most boring legalese has turned into a rallying cry for a certain set of users to go on the attack," he said.
Here's the latest on the GoFundMe border wall effort:
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Staff Writer
Carlos Garcia is a staff writer for Blaze News.
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