PayPal Blocks QAnon Group Patriot Voice Ahead of Las Vegas Convention
BY ANDERS ANGLESEY ON 10/6/21
PayPal has canceled its services for Patriot Voice ahead of the QAnon-linked group's upcoming convention in Las Vegas.
The company notified the group's leader, John Sabal (aka QAnon John) that Patriot Voice's website would no longer be able to use its services to process ticket payments for the QAnon convention scheduled for late October.
Sabal shared a grab of the cancelation message with his 69,000 Telegram followers on Tuesday.
PayPal later confirmed to Newsweek that it has closed the Patriot Voice's account.
The PayPal message Sabal posted read: "We have recently reviewed your usage of PayPal's services, as reflected in our records.
"Due to the nature of your activities, we have chosen to discontinue service to you in accordance with PayPal's user agreement. As a result, we have placed limitations on your account."
PayPal then demanded all references to it, including its logo and shopping cart icon, were removed from the Patriot Voice website.
On Monday night, Ron Watkins, who some have accused of being behind QAnon, posted to Telegram a video in which he appeared alongside Sabal and his partner, Amy.
Watkins, who denies being behind the source of the conspiracy theory, is billed among the speakers at the upcoming Patriot Voice event.
Writing under PayPal's message, Sabal said: "Wanna know what digital war looks like? Not five minutes after [Watkins] appeared on a show with us, and did a personal endorsement on his channel. PayPal canceled the Patriot Voice. This is what we are up against."
Sabal also said Venmo, a mobile payment service owned by PayPal, had also discontinued its services on the Patriot Voice website.
Newsweek has contacted Venmo and the Patriot Voice for comment.
Action Against QAnon
PayPal is one of several firms that has taken action against QAnon accounts and in July partnered with the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) to fight extremism in the financial industry.
In September, MediaMatters found several QAnon accounts were still able to use PayPal to make money, going against the recent partnership between it and the ADL.
Trump-Backed GOP Candidate Set to Attend QAnon EventREAD MORE
Patriot Voice is an upcoming QAnon-related event that will feature speakers linked to the conspiracy.
At least five Republican politicians are also listed as "special guests."
QAnon is a false conspiracy theory that a satanic group of global elites is running a massive child-sex trafficking ring and that former President Donald Trump would expose high-profile figures as being members of the ring.
Since the January 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol and the inauguration of President Joe Biden, QAnon followers have since increasingly merged their beliefs with other conspiracy theories, including the unfounded claim that Biden somehow stole the 2020 Presidential Election from Trump.
