GoFundMe Caves on ‘Freedom Convoy’ Refunds as Elon Musk, Ron DeSantis Slam Plan to Redistribute
Trucks parked in downtown Ottawa continue to protest Covid-19 vaccine mandates and restrictions, on February 4, 2022. (Dave Chan/AFP via Getty)
The fundraising platform GoFundMe took down a page set up to raise money for the protesting truckers in Canada’s capital, claiming the intended recipients were in violation of the site’s policies on violence.
The “Freedom Convoy” is a protest in Ottawa consisting of hundreds of semis rolling into the city in protest of covid vaccine mandates for drivers. GoFundMe said that after speaking with law enforcement they were taking down a page raising money for the truckers because the protesters were engaging in violence or harassment, and it is against their policy to allow funds to be raised in support of that.
In announcing the move on Friday, GoFundMe said “Given how this situation has evolved, no further funds will be directly distributed to the Freedom Convoy organizers. We will work with organizers to send all remaining funds to credible and established charities chosen by the Freedom Convoy 2022 organizers and verified by GoFundMe.”
That plan to take the funds and redistribute them to “credible” charities at their discretion was not widely well-received, and one of the loudest, if understated objections came from Elon Musk, who labeled the company as “thieves.”
It’s not my money pic.twitter.com/IKRxhGo8wS
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 5, 2022
Musk also implied hypocrisy on GoFundMe’s part.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 5, 2022
He wasn’t the only major name objecting. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced on Saturday he was directing the state’s Attorney General to investigate what he described as “fraud. Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry and West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrissey made similar announcements.
It is a fraud for @gofundme to commandeer $9M in donations sent to support truckers and give it to causes of their own choosing.
I will work with @AGAshleyMoody to investigate these deceptive practices — these donors should be given a refund.
— Ron DeSantis (@GovRonDeSantis) February 5, 2022
#GoFundMe now won’t honor #FreedomConvoy donations and will instead redirect to other charities?
In WV, organizations must not deceive donors and engage in deceptive advertising practices.
If you’ve been victimized by a deceptive act or practice, let us know!
— Patrick Morrisey (@MorriseyWV) February 5, 2022
I share the concerns of @WestVirginiaAG. My office will be looking into whether or not #GoFundMe violated our state law. If you are a Louisiana donor to the #FreedomConvoy, please contact my #ConsumerProtection Section! #lagov https://t.co/lwCAvsbLrY
— AG Jeff Landry (@AGJeffLandry) February 5, 2022
Early on Saturday the platform reversed course on the plan to keep and redirect the funds and instead will be offering refunds to all who contributed to the fundraiser.
The update we issued earlier enabled all donors to get a refund and outlined a plan to distribute remaining funds to verified charities selected by the Freedom Convoy organizers. However, due to donor feedback, we are simplifying the process and automatically refunding donations.
— GoFundMe (@gofundme) February 5, 2022
A separate fundraiser was set up through GiveSendGo. On Saturday, that fundraising company stated that, although their site had come under attack for taking on the project, the page had raised in excess of $1 million for the protesters.
We have been under heavy DDOS and bot attacks. In spite of all of this we still have managed to raise funds 5X faster than the gfm did. GFM raised 10mil in 3 weeks. GSG campaign has already raised over 1.1mil in just over 12 hours!
— GiveSendGo (@GiveSendGo) February 5, 2022
The convoy made news last weekend, too, after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau vacated Ottawa and speculation ran rampant about it.
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