How many times does this happen to call it a trend? There are a few high profile examples, but is there evidence this is happening to many people, is it 10's, 100's 1000's?
How many times does this happen to call it a trend?
There are a few high profile examples, but is there evidence this is happening to many people, is it 10's, 100's 1000's?
I really wonder what's going on here. To me this screams international sanctions. Dozens of banks don't collude together to target particular individuals. If all the banks start acting in concert...
I really wonder what's going on here. To me this screams international sanctions. Dozens of banks don't collude together to target particular individuals. If all the banks start acting in concert to deny someone an account, it seems some serious government pressure is being applied. And as this seems to be an international phenomenon, it's likely this traces to international sanctions.
Sanctions would also explain why their accounts are being frozen rather than simply closed. Normally, if a bank decides they don't want to do business with you, they close your account, rather than freezing it. They don't lock your funds up and keep you from accessing them. Rather, they close your account, liquidate the balance, and send a check for the balance to whatever mailing address they have on file. When a bank simply doesn't want you as a customer anymore, that's how they do it. Banks make decisions all the time about what kind of customers they want or don't want. As interests rates shift, they'll often reanalyze their practices and decide new account criteria. As the business and interest environments shift, they'll implement new rules on minimum account balances, required credit scores, etc. And sometimes this will result in them closing large numbers of unprofitable accounts. But no bank wants the bad publicity as "the bank that freezes people's funds for months." When they decide they don't want you as a customer, they want to terminate that relationship as fast as possible. They don't keep your funds in limbo for months; rather they simply close your account and send you a check for the balance. The fact that these accounts are being frozen, rather than simply closed and liquidated, strongly suggests that international sanctions, rather than simply business decisions, are what is in play here.
The article mentions that Muslim Americans and Brits have been dealing with this for years. Often this is simply a case of mistaken identity; people have a similar or shared name of someone on an international sanctions list. Or sometimes individuals have real, but unintentional connections to terrorist groups. The vast, vast majority of Muslims do not in any way support terrorism, but it's not hard to end up a degree or two away from them. Maybe you donate to a mosque. That mosque supports various humanitarian efforts in the Middle East. Maybe several years ago, your mosque donated money to a group providing humanitarian aid in the Syrian civil war. In the meantime, some of the individuals in that group became radicalized and went on to join terrorist groups. It's not hard to find yourself "6 degrees of Kevin Bacon"ing yourself to terrorism.
And the key thing to keep in mind is all of this is being managed by big AI systems. The US and other powers are doubtlessly deploying the latest AI systems to pour through every nook and cranny of the financial systems. The NSA and CIA have their computers pouring through the whole banking system, trying to plug every possible hole sanctioned nations, businesses, and individuals use to get around sanctions. And sometimes that results in innocent people being flagged, and the whole thing then takes a few months to sort out.
And the right wing politicians? Well it's no secret that Russia has been bankrolling a lot of western right-wing politicians and political groups. Would anyone really be surprised if Nigel Farage, Mr. Brexit himself, has some Russian financial ties? There are a lot of rumors relating to Russia and Brexit. Brexit was certainly a big win for Moscow. Maybe Farage himself isn't directly receiving checks from the Kremlin, but I wouldn't be surprised if he had a lot of business interests involving sanctioned Russian oligarchs.
Russia has been working for years to drive political division in western countries. It's happy to do so both on the far right and far left, but the radical left like the Green party in the US hasn't been anywhere near as politically successful as right-wing extremists. The right wings in the US and the UK are simply more amenable to extreme voices than their left-wing counterparts. Think of Farage and Brexit, Trump wanting to pull out of NATO, or Russia's support and coverage of the Canadian Freedom Convoy. Plus, Russia itself is a very right-wing country. Putin himself governs on a platform of traditional values, nationalism, and militant queerphobia. Right-wing politicians in the west are his natural allies.
I think what's happening here is that a lot of people are unknowingly getting caught up in international sanctions regimes. You hear it happening to some right-wing figures because they themselves may have knowingly or unknowingly had business interests or received donations from Russian interests. They may be directly receiving money from Russian interest, or they might just have a lot of associates with Russian business interests.
This would explain why the banks can't explain to their customers why they are being dropped. You don't necessarily want to tell sanctioned individuals specifically why they are being sanctioned. There might be some level of national security classification involved. Banks may be instructed not to instruct sanctioned individuals why their accounts have been shut down, as this would encourage them to seek out ways around the sanctions.
This whole thing just wreaks of international sanctions.
How many times does this happen to call it a trend?
There are a few high profile examples, but is there evidence this is happening to many people, is it 10's, 100's 1000's?
In the UK, Nigel Farage is organizing to fight the banks over this after one closed his account
https://www.standard.co.uk/business/business-news/nigel-farage-plans-powerful-lobby-group-to-oppose-debanking-b1097585.html
Couldn't have happened to a nicer individual. Hard to feel any sympathy for one of the chief architects of Brexit.
Speaking personally, I agree with you. Schadenfreude and all that. However, I think there should be some rules or standards.
I really wonder what's going on here. To me this screams international sanctions. Dozens of banks don't collude together to target particular individuals. If all the banks start acting in concert to deny someone an account, it seems some serious government pressure is being applied. And as this seems to be an international phenomenon, it's likely this traces to international sanctions.
Sanctions would also explain why their accounts are being frozen rather than simply closed. Normally, if a bank decides they don't want to do business with you, they close your account, rather than freezing it. They don't lock your funds up and keep you from accessing them. Rather, they close your account, liquidate the balance, and send a check for the balance to whatever mailing address they have on file. When a bank simply doesn't want you as a customer anymore, that's how they do it. Banks make decisions all the time about what kind of customers they want or don't want. As interests rates shift, they'll often reanalyze their practices and decide new account criteria. As the business and interest environments shift, they'll implement new rules on minimum account balances, required credit scores, etc. And sometimes this will result in them closing large numbers of unprofitable accounts. But no bank wants the bad publicity as "the bank that freezes people's funds for months." When they decide they don't want you as a customer, they want to terminate that relationship as fast as possible. They don't keep your funds in limbo for months; rather they simply close your account and send you a check for the balance. The fact that these accounts are being frozen, rather than simply closed and liquidated, strongly suggests that international sanctions, rather than simply business decisions, are what is in play here.
The article mentions that Muslim Americans and Brits have been dealing with this for years. Often this is simply a case of mistaken identity; people have a similar or shared name of someone on an international sanctions list. Or sometimes individuals have real, but unintentional connections to terrorist groups. The vast, vast majority of Muslims do not in any way support terrorism, but it's not hard to end up a degree or two away from them. Maybe you donate to a mosque. That mosque supports various humanitarian efforts in the Middle East. Maybe several years ago, your mosque donated money to a group providing humanitarian aid in the Syrian civil war. In the meantime, some of the individuals in that group became radicalized and went on to join terrorist groups. It's not hard to find yourself "6 degrees of Kevin Bacon"ing yourself to terrorism.
And the key thing to keep in mind is all of this is being managed by big AI systems. The US and other powers are doubtlessly deploying the latest AI systems to pour through every nook and cranny of the financial systems. The NSA and CIA have their computers pouring through the whole banking system, trying to plug every possible hole sanctioned nations, businesses, and individuals use to get around sanctions. And sometimes that results in innocent people being flagged, and the whole thing then takes a few months to sort out.
And the right wing politicians? Well it's no secret that Russia has been bankrolling a lot of western right-wing politicians and political groups. Would anyone really be surprised if Nigel Farage, Mr. Brexit himself, has some Russian financial ties? There are a lot of rumors relating to Russia and Brexit. Brexit was certainly a big win for Moscow. Maybe Farage himself isn't directly receiving checks from the Kremlin, but I wouldn't be surprised if he had a lot of business interests involving sanctioned Russian oligarchs.
Russia has been working for years to drive political division in western countries. It's happy to do so both on the far right and far left, but the radical left like the Green party in the US hasn't been anywhere near as politically successful as right-wing extremists. The right wings in the US and the UK are simply more amenable to extreme voices than their left-wing counterparts. Think of Farage and Brexit, Trump wanting to pull out of NATO, or Russia's support and coverage of the Canadian Freedom Convoy. Plus, Russia itself is a very right-wing country. Putin himself governs on a platform of traditional values, nationalism, and militant queerphobia. Right-wing politicians in the west are his natural allies.
I think what's happening here is that a lot of people are unknowingly getting caught up in international sanctions regimes. You hear it happening to some right-wing figures because they themselves may have knowingly or unknowingly had business interests or received donations from Russian interests. They may be directly receiving money from Russian interest, or they might just have a lot of associates with Russian business interests.
This would explain why the banks can't explain to their customers why they are being dropped. You don't necessarily want to tell sanctioned individuals specifically why they are being sanctioned. There might be some level of national security classification involved. Banks may be instructed not to instruct sanctioned individuals why their accounts have been shut down, as this would encourage them to seek out ways around the sanctions.
This whole thing just wreaks of international sanctions.