An activist coalition publicly targeted 'internet companies' for censorship but strategically defined the term to include banks and payment processors. This made their primary, often unstated, goal to cut off funding to their political opponents.
The SPLC testified before Congress advocating for new legislation that would compel tech companies to investigate and report users' financial activities related to 'violence, harassment, and terrorism' to the government, with penalties for non-compliance.
The SPLC's 'Intelligence Project' runs a paid informant program, partners with law enforcement, and produces intelligence reports, functioning more like a private intelligence agency than a typical civil rights organization.
A coalition first secured companies' agreement to deplatform genuinely harmful actors like terrorists (the 'ante'). They then expanded demands to include controversial political figures (the 'raise'), framing non-compliance as a failure to uphold the original commitment.
A non-profit coalition used hectoring, personal attacks, and accusations of profiting from evil in hundreds of private meetings. This tactic targeted both senior executives and junior employees at tech and finance firms to coerce compliance.
Going beyond content moderation, the 'Change the Terms' coalition explicitly demanded that Facebook shut down the fundraising activities of a political action committee (PAC) controlled by Donald Trump, a declared candidate for president, calling it a 'loophole' in his ban.
Corporations can neutralize activist pressure by appearing to comply with demands for account closure, when in reality the targeted accounts were already under review internally. This information asymmetry allows them to manage external optics without altering their process.
Unanimous corporate actions, like Trump's deplatforming, are driven by game theory. The catastrophic business and political risk of being the sole holdout creates a 'race-to-be-second,' where one company's move pressures all others to follow immediately to avoid isolation.
Coalition member Free Press explicitly cited its efforts to 'close a loophole that's allowing a Trump PAC to fundraise' in its own fundraising appeals. This appeal was immediately followed by a disclaimer stating the organization is non-partisan and does not oppose any candidate.