RESOLVED: Stripe, Substack Demand Financial Details from Authors
Prompt legal action resulted in Stripe revising their demands
Federalist/Joy Pullman coverage of this story can be found here.
The preceding “Who is Robert Malone” Substack essay introducing this topic can be found here.
Stripe, the only payment processing and credit card transaction vendor allowed by Substack, has recently begun selectively requiring financial details from certain Substack authors under threat that if those details are not forthcoming then the authors and their Substack-based businesses will no longer be able to process paid subscriptions. Or to put it another way, “thats a nice Substack subscription business you have developed, it would be a shame of something happened to it”. Ergo: Stripe will demonitize those who refuse to allow them to have access to their financial records and details.
Variations on this Stripe demonitization scheme have been deployed with various accounts, and all of those which I am aware of involve content creators who are associated with conservative causes - for example the “Libs of TicTok” “X” account and broadcast journalist Emerald Robinson.
Upon receiving Stripe’s demands that the author of this Substack provide Stripe with complete access to our linked bank account and all associated transaction records.
“When you first set up your Stripe account, we asked you to connect your bank account in order to receive payouts. We are now requesting that you link your bank account, which involves sharing details and activity relating to your bank account with Stripe. This includes your current account balance and transactions, as well as historical transactions.”
There were no other options provided, and assertions were made that this new Stripe policy was being implemented in response to communication received from the US Federal Government. Please keep in mind that Substack will not allow any other credit card processing company other than Stripe to work with Substack, Substack subscriber accounts, and Substack author accounts. And yes, there are other options available.
In response to this selectively deployed, arbitrary and capricious threat by Stripe to demonitize the “Who is Robert Malone” account, a decision was made to retain legal council and promptly act to challenge the legality of this action. This decision required a very substantial financial retainer, and it was estimated that the case would require approximately $100,000 in legal costs. We had initially contacted Stripe and Substack to object to this arbitrary and capricious account, but neither Stripe nor Substack provided any mechanism for review or challenge of this new policy, so a costly legal challenge was the only available option. For most Author accounts, spending major funds to mount a legal challenge this type of action is not a realistic option, but in this case it was decided that the risk and cost of immediately retaining experienced and highly qualified California-based legal representation was warranted. It was a hard and costly decision to justify this level of cost and risk, but the risk of losing a business that had been developed over years of careful, daily customer service was too high to not take this seriously.
In parallel, a decision was made to initiate a Give-Send-Go campaign to defray the projected legal expenses, reasoning that this threat to the “Who is Robert Malone” account was really another broad threat to both other Substack authors as well as to free speech in general. The “Who is Robert Malone” Substack subscriber community responded promptly and generously, for which we are very grateful.
I am pleased to be able to report that this prompt coordinated action has resulted in an abrupt shift in the Stripe requirements imposed on this account, and substitution of the requirement that the following form should be completed and submitted on a short timeline, in lieu of the prior requirement for full access to bank account records.
I am now understanding that a similar change in requirement has been communicated to at least one other Substack author who had been subjected to this arbitrary and capricious business interference by Stripe, but that others have now had their accounts placed on hold by Stripe.
For further details, please see below for a copy of the press release from the Dhillon Law group concerning this matter, which law firm had been retained by ourselves to assist in this matter.
In my opinion, it is very unfortunate that Stripe and Substack are pursuing these policies, which are absolutely contrary to the principles of support of free speech upon which Substack was founded. Stripe has apparently modified those web-based resources in which they has previously indicated that this policy was being implemented in response to Federal US Government pressure to delete any reference to Federal US Government actions prompting these policies.
In this case, we were able to obtain prompt revision of the Stripe/Substack action by spending considerable funds to obtain highly qualified legal representation. But what of the average author who is either caught unaware by such policies or who cannot justify such legal costs? This appears to be a new normal- weaponization of finance and financial transactions to restrict and control free speech.
We must all become more diligent, and we can no longer afford to assume good faith and transparency in routine financial transactions such as credit card processing by a major corporation.
Financial Service Provider Stripe Revises Data Disclosure Requirement After Legal Dispute
Stripe, a global payment processing company, has retracted its request for comprehensive financial data from Dr. Robert Malone following legal intervention by the Dhillon Law Group.
The initial request, which deviated from Stripe’s standard operating procedures, would have compelled Dr. Malone to provide extensive financial information from his business banking activities, including transactions and account balances spanning the entire history of his business bank account.
Dr. Malone, a medical researcher with a significant subscriber base on Substack, was faced with an abrupt policy change that threatened his business’s revenue stream. The payment processor’s demand for detailed financial records was not in line with the regular scope of information typically required by financial institutions, raising concerns about privacy and operational overreach.
“Stripe previously notified us that the firm required that we share details and activity relating to my business bank account with Stripe, including my current account balance, transactions, and all historical transactions, or else Stripe would stop processing payments from our Substack subscribers,” Dr. Malone said. “We were provided approximately one week to comply with this requirement. This was not a general policy, and appears to have been selectively deployed by Stripe in response to a U.S. Government request. As Substack only allows the use of credit card processing via Stripe, we saw this as a direct threat to the revenue from the business we have built up over the last two years using the Substack social media authorship toolkit. We immediately contacted the Dhillon Law Group, which has been able to promptly and favorably resolve this so that our business was not impacted by this new Stripe policy.”
The Dhillon Law Group challenged Stripe’s requirement on behalf of Dr. Malone, emphasizing the need to protect sensitive financial data while still ensuring the client’s business remained unaffected.
“Financial service providers must tread carefully when requesting client data. It is critical to uphold the delicate balance between regulatory requirements and an individual’s right to financial privacy,” said Mark Meuser, an attorney with the Dhillon Law Group. “We are satisfied with Stripe’s decision to withdraw its request, allowing Dr. Malone to continue his valuable work without unnecessary intrusion into his business affairs.”
In conclusion, Jill and I thank Mark Meuser, the Dhillon Law Group, and our many donors and subscribers for standing with us in responding promptly and firmly to the actions of Stripe and Substack in this matter. We hope that this action will deter similar actions by Stripe and Substack against other authors and their Substack-based small businesses, but fear that this is just one example of an ongoing effort by large corporations, the State, and transnational non-governmental organizations to continue to push the weaponization of finance down to the individual level as a means to exert social controls on speech and behavior.
