Would you be satisfied if they just came out and said "Patreon is a small financial services company. Not black-ops mercenary outfit. Not a powerful nation state. If you expect us to face down powerful nation states on your behalf, we suggest that you sign up HERE to fight on the front lines in Ukraine yourself." ?
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Honestly, I'd be satisfied if they gave any indication at all that they had considered the weight of their decision, especially given the timing.
Patreon arguing that they were just following the rules, when they themselves created the rules and can rewrite them arbitrarily, is absolutely piss-poor form in a humanitarian crisis like this.
> weight of their decision
I am not too aware of this account. How much money was moving through Patreon to the Ukrainians? Is it the majority of the weapons funding they needed?
Honestly I would be less annoyed if that had been their statement.
+1 and ditto...but my bet is that such honesty would not turn out well for Patreon. "Per our Terms & Conditions..." is a legalism which excuses their behavior, keeps the discussion safely in the legalistic realm, applies a dose of "who actually reads those Terms & Conditions, anyway?" mind-numbing, and fairly well signals "decision is final, case is closed".
Vs. honesty would open a Pandora's Box of internet outrage & arguments about morality, the roles of corporations in modern society, whether Patreon should stand fast if the GRU (Russian military intelligence) sends 'em death threats, how close to funding an overseas armed conflict they (and the banks they use) can legally come, and more. All with Patreon stuck in the middle of that sh*t-storm, collecting $0.000 for each & every enraged comment, reaction, DDoS, etc. aimed at them.
When there are little kiddies in the room, it just works better to say "Because Santa Claus...". You get far fewer screams and tears and arguments from the kiddies, and the grown-ups still understand.
I must have missed the part where patreon was asked to face down Russia. Hyperbole much?
Don't you think it could make them a target of russia's cyber warfare?