A Substack author showed more than a dozen emails from various officials at Stripe detailing Stripe’s move to block payments to Substack authors. Initial emails accuse the author of “fraud” for using a pen name, latter emails accuse Substack of being a Restricted Business — such as narcotics trafficking and arms trafficking — and hence “not eligible” for Stripe payment processing.

If Stripe’s War on Freedom of the Press by actively blocking payments to writers will spread to other sites, such as the much more widely read Medium or the up and coming ghost.org site, remains to be seen.

Stripe personnel seems ignorant and totally unconcerned that authors using a pen name — like actors using a stage name — is Constitutionally protected free speech by Americans and that this’s been Constitutionally protected free speech for over two centuries. Stripe feels that its’ ‘community standards’ and ‘terms of service’ Trump the US Bill of Rights, the Constitution of the USA.

When ‘Dana’ at Stripe emailed a list of Stripe “Restricted Businesses” including narcotics trafficking and arms trafficking, an obvious question was asked, which category exactly does Stripe place Substack writers? Stripe has yet to respond to that question.

The part of an email from support@stripe.com from ‘Dana’ in question is here:

“…we (Stripe) were unable to support your business (Substack) as it falls under one of our restricted business categories.”

Stripe denial of serive notice to Substack writers… were you a Substack writer, did you already get his notice? Contact me to tell me your account!

See Stripes’ list of Restricted Businesses here:

stripe.com/legal/restricted-businesses

Interestingly, Stripes’ blacklist not only includes drugs and weapons but also includes ‘peptide trafficking’, bankruptcy attorneys and ‘any business that Stripe considers to be unfair.’

Stripe has yet to generate a link to a list of their red-lined zip codes. Perhaps some Stripe corporate executives are aware that red-lining is a crime and discrimination — denial of financial services — based on skin color or ethnicity is outlawed behavior as well.

An author who agreed to speak about Stripes’ maltreatment and numerous false accusations made by Stripe personnel is half Latino from The Bronx. An obvious question for Stripe, a financial services firm in the mold of robber baron banks of the early 1900’s, is if Stripe engages in red-lining. Red lining is a criminal business in which financial services corporations — such as Stripe — target, harass and deny services to minorities who are in poorer zip codes known to have non-white people.

Stripe has yet to respond to the question posed to it, if it does red-lining and if so which zip codes in the USA is Stripe targetting for red-lining, for exclusion from financial services. Stripe operates internationally and may also be red-lining certain countries based on race and ethnicity as Stripe is apparently doing within the USA.

This report is developing. There still are many question that Stripe corporate employees have refused to respond to. Questions if and why Stripe considers authors using a pen name and actors using a stage name to be fraud, what category exactly of their ‘restricted business’ list does Substack fall under, how extensive and pervasive is the Stripe corporate criminal activities of red-lining, of wholesale discrimination against Minorities by red-lining entire zip codes in the USA and possibly entire countries in our global economy based on skin color and ethnicity and will Stripes’ decision to stop servicing Substack spread to other sites used by writers.

Top press sites have their own domain and it’s currently unknown if news sites such as The Drudge Report or The New York Times use financial services from Stripe. Stripe is not the only financial services provider in the USA (robber baron monopolies are also outlawed, sorry Stripe) and it remains unclear if Stripe’s decision to block financial transactions from Substack writers will result in a bonanza for competitive financial services firms that ‘allow’ Americans freedom of speech and freedom of the press.

Substack has yet to comment. ‘Bruno’ at Substack made a brief email response to one Substack author requesting Substack assistance with this Stripe financial processing blockade matter. Bruno simply responded to being locked out of a Stripe account and being unable to login to that author’s Stripe account by telling the author to login to their Stripe account. Perhaps someone who can give a coherent reply- instead of a nonsensical reply- will respond from Substack today.

From Stripe, there is no shortage of email responses to comb through. Apparently burning through hour after hour of an author’s time with false accusations, harassing demands to use Stripe links that link to ‘page not found’ notices and continued ongoing (nonsensical) demands to use Stripe links that don’t function… to use Stripe financial services that appear to be breaking down and non-functional…. wasting time, harassment, intentionally irritating all seem to be part of the racist Stripe corporate M.O. Especially if you’re from a zip code other than the lilly-white uber-rich 90210.

Substack writers have to face the question, what will they do? Continue to write at Substack for free. What will Substack as a business do in the absence of financial services? A small number of Substack authors have stated that they are already looking into the ghost.org site which is up and coming, which does provide more accurate and more detailed insights into readers and reader preferences and which does not take a 12.9+ percent fee from any revenue and into the much more popular and much more widely read medium.com which similiarsites shows with 900% more readers than Substack.

What writer can say no to a 9-fold increase in readership, a 9-fold increase in subscriptions?

One author who responded to an inquiry already mirrors her work at her own homepage, Medium, Substack and Patreon. Substack apparently has been the smallest part of her writing income, a ‘small lick of icing on the cake.’ Without Stripe and without payment processing at Substack, she’d drop Substack ‘like a rock’ and suggested that Substack should drop Stripe ‘like a rock.’

Her advice as a writer with millions of views per year: Medium and your own homepage (made by yourself or with the assistance of ghost.org) plus Patreon which permits recurring contributions of any size and occasional exclusive content for supporters.

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This report is developing and is expected to be updated. Stay tuned.