Today’s blacklisted Americans: Conservatives on the email provider MailChimp
Doesn’t exist at MailChimp
They’re coming for you next: The email provider MailChimp has since the November election made it a clear policy to routinely cancel the accounts of conservatives if they dare send out any emails it deems politically incorrect.
In November MailChimp instantly disabled the email account of two tea party organizations, one in Virginia and the other in South Carolina, when they each tried to send out email notices to their members about post-election pro-Trump rallies.
In January MailChimp did the same to a conservative organization in California that was running a conference calling for the end of the overbearing lockdown rules imposed by the Democrat governor Gavin Newsom.
Because the ReOpenCalNow organizers are targeting a high level audience of policymakers, they assembled an email list of several thousand of California’s local elected officials. The list includes city council members, county supervisors, and members of school boards. Using MailChimp, they sent out three email blasts before receiving the following message:
“We received a direct complaint regarding a recent campaign sent from the account with the username ReOpen Cal Now. Direct complaints are serious because they indicate that a recipient contacted Mailchimp, our hosting facility, or a blocklisting agency about an unsolicited email.” The MailChimp email went on to say: “Because the content associated with your industry conflicts with our Acceptable Use Policy (mailchimp.com/legal/acceptable_use), Mailchimp is unable to serve as your email service provider and your account has been disabled.”
MailChimp went on to reject all appeals, and it is clear that the reason they would not reinstate ReOpenCalNow’s account was not because of spam. The laws protecting people from receiving spam do not apply to publicly available emails of elected officials. Every email on the list compiled by ReOpenCalNow were publicly available and corresponded to an elected official. [emphasis in original]
MailChimp is a private company, so they have this right. However, I also have the right to point out their biased, partisan, and untrustworthy email policies. If you are a Republican or conservative and you depend on MailChimp for your email services, be warned that they are a dagger hanging over your head. Should you make the terrible mistake of distributing an email that says something political that someone else doesn’t like — either at MailChimp or on your mailing list and then complains to MailChimp — you could find yourself instantly cut off by MailChimp, with no recourse.
Note also that MailChimp’s blacklisting policies have been quickly picked up by other email services, as described in the January story.
Evidence to support this version of what happened is found in how ReOpenCalNow was treated when they attempted to start an account on another major platform, Mailer Lite. Their application generated an immediate rejection from MailerLite. They wrote: “The approval team determined that your account violates paragraph 9. of our Terms of Use on appropriate content. We are sorry to disappoint you. I could not be of more help but thank you for understanding.”
When ReOpenCalNow appealed, noting that they are a non-profit educational group that hosts public policy conferences, and that the content clearly falls under 1st Amendment expression, they received a second rejection: “Thank you for your interest in Mailerlite however, unfortunately, your website’s type of content is not permitted on our platform.
Facebook then followed by banning ads by ReOpenCalNow.
It is not the business of any email service to regulate what its customers write in their emails. An email provider’s job is to provide the email service, and that’s it. Their actions here are akin to a typewriter company refusing to sell a typewriter to someone because that person might write something the typewriter company disagrees with.
That the employees at MailChimp and Mailer Lite don’t understand these basic concepts about freedom of speech illustrates how far we have fallen from a free society. A substantial percentage of Americans today, maybe even a majority, no longer believe in freedom and the right to speak your mind. Instead, they prefer smashing a boot in your face.
If you favor freedom, be warned. You are no longer safe from many of your neighbors.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
Doesn’t exist at MailChimp
They’re coming for you next: The email provider MailChimp has since the November election made it a clear policy to routinely cancel the accounts of conservatives if they dare send out any emails it deems politically incorrect.
In November MailChimp instantly disabled the email account of two tea party organizations, one in Virginia and the other in South Carolina, when they each tried to send out email notices to their members about post-election pro-Trump rallies.
In January MailChimp did the same to a conservative organization in California that was running a conference calling for the end of the overbearing lockdown rules imposed by the Democrat governor Gavin Newsom.
Because the ReOpenCalNow organizers are targeting a high level audience of policymakers, they assembled an email list of several thousand of California’s local elected officials. The list includes city council members, county supervisors, and members of school boards. Using MailChimp, they sent out three email blasts before receiving the following message:
“We received a direct complaint regarding a recent campaign sent from the account with the username ReOpen Cal Now. Direct complaints are serious because they indicate that a recipient contacted Mailchimp, our hosting facility, or a blocklisting agency about an unsolicited email.” The MailChimp email went on to say: “Because the content associated with your industry conflicts with our Acceptable Use Policy (mailchimp.com/legal/acceptable_use), Mailchimp is unable to serve as your email service provider and your account has been disabled.”
MailChimp went on to reject all appeals, and it is clear that the reason they would not reinstate ReOpenCalNow’s account was not because of spam. The laws protecting people from receiving spam do not apply to publicly available emails of elected officials. Every email on the list compiled by ReOpenCalNow were publicly available and corresponded to an elected official. [emphasis in original]
MailChimp is a private company, so they have this right. However, I also have the right to point out their biased, partisan, and untrustworthy email policies. If you are a Republican or conservative and you depend on MailChimp for your email services, be warned that they are a dagger hanging over your head. Should you make the terrible mistake of distributing an email that says something political that someone else doesn’t like — either at MailChimp or on your mailing list and then complains to MailChimp — you could find yourself instantly cut off by MailChimp, with no recourse.
Note also that MailChimp’s blacklisting policies have been quickly picked up by other email services, as described in the January story.
Evidence to support this version of what happened is found in how ReOpenCalNow was treated when they attempted to start an account on another major platform, Mailer Lite. Their application generated an immediate rejection from MailerLite. They wrote: “The approval team determined that your account violates paragraph 9. of our Terms of Use on appropriate content. We are sorry to disappoint you. I could not be of more help but thank you for understanding.”
When ReOpenCalNow appealed, noting that they are a non-profit educational group that hosts public policy conferences, and that the content clearly falls under 1st Amendment expression, they received a second rejection: “Thank you for your interest in Mailerlite however, unfortunately, your website’s type of content is not permitted on our platform.
Facebook then followed by banning ads by ReOpenCalNow.
It is not the business of any email service to regulate what its customers write in their emails. An email provider’s job is to provide the email service, and that’s it. Their actions here are akin to a typewriter company refusing to sell a typewriter to someone because that person might write something the typewriter company disagrees with.
That the employees at MailChimp and Mailer Lite don’t understand these basic concepts about freedom of speech illustrates how far we have fallen from a free society. A substantial percentage of Americans today, maybe even a majority, no longer believe in freedom and the right to speak your mind. Instead, they prefer smashing a boot in your face.
If you favor freedom, be warned. You are no longer safe from many of your neighbors.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
Newspapers used to proudly affirm their political affiliation in their names, such as The Chicago Democrat. If leftism is so much to be desired, why don’t media and tech companies follow suit? The New York Times Democrat. Facebook Progressive. I think MailChimp is probably good as is.
Noah,
“I think MailChimp is probably good as is.”
How mean. Delicious.
Wait till the woke go after their name. You know it offends someone.
Jerry–
Oh yeah! Using lefty woke-logic & their propensity to psychologically project their true inner motivations, that’s one racist name.
[For the record– I think it’s a stupid name but I have nothing against our simian ancestors. After all, ‘it’s a long way to the top, if you wanna rock-n-roll.]
One lesson to be learned from this (besides the obvious one(s)):
->Don’t be so lazy in the internet-space, as to rely on 3rd party providers for everything you do. Email is easy to set up on your own server, why farm it out to people that hate your guts? And, who now have your entire email list.
(And tangentially, don’t expect these tech companies to stream your long form videos for free, that’s not their business model.)
If what the group did was assemble a list of names, upload it to MailChimp and then send an email blast, then yes they will get blocked. The CAN SPAM act does not allow unsolicited email (most spam comes from servers that fail to follow the regulations, hence the spam moniker). For a legitimate email company to survive, it must not allow any spam type actions. If the group used an opt out feature, honored it, and created their list correctly, then there is a problem. As described though, they put together a list, created an email campaign, and hit go.
You don’t do that.
Joe–
Yowza.
‘come on, man,’…. you really think this is about unsolicited email?
This is the big (fatal) problem with conservatives, [and I say this as a conservative, although I’ve almost rid myself of this particular flaw] they all think if they just follow ‘the rules,’ everything will be ok.
V For Vendetta Speech –
Seeds of Revolution
https://youtu.be/dKnjxT5HRJQ?t=65
“Words offer the means to meaning, and for those who will listen, the enunciation of truth. And the truth is, there is something terribly wrong with this country, isn’t there? Cruelty and injustice, intolerance and oppression. And where once you had the freedom to object, think, and speak as you saw fit, you now have censors and systems of surveillance coercing your conformity and soliciting your submission. How did this happen? Who’s to blame? Well, certainly there are those more responsible than others, and they will be held accountable, but again truth be told, if you’re looking for the guilty, you need only look into a mirror. “
Wayne,
I have had the obligation to shut down email systems that violated this rule. I have also been fired for not being willing to break that rule. Call it my weakness, but there are some like me who will follow the law when it comes to spam email. I won’t tolerate it from anyone, nevermore their political party affiliation.
Joe: While such spam should be blocked and its distributors banned, I don’t think this applies in this case. The messages were being sent to political figures, who are specifically exempted from such rules according to the article, based on the first amendment, which specifically states that such petitioning of elected officials and their bureaucratic minions cannot be infringed.
The email services can of course do what they want, but in this case I think it harbors on a partisan blacklisting of a conservative voice, merely because they are conservative. I strongly suspect that if you reviewed MailChimp’s logs you would find many similar blasts from the leftist sources that prompted no similar banning by MailChimp..
Joe-
-didn’t mean to personally poke you with a stick, just sayin’— perpetual rule-following is a double edged sword, cus’ our enemies have a veto, and they increasingly make ALL the rules. Nobody is following Marquess of Queensberry rules, except for us.
As Hillary Clinton showed us all, email is cake, on your own server.
pivoting….
Metallica, Megadeth, and The Who
“Eminence of Holy Wars and Creeping Death”
https://youtu.be/APOGz3EBzKE
4:13
Simple test. Create an account at MailChimp for an organization such as Communusts United for the Dissolution of the United States. Send out the exact same type of mailing, except pushing leftist ideas. See how the fake organization is treated. Or, one could research how other (left leaning) clients are treated.