GiveSendGo is committed to giving both sides of the political culture in our society an equal chance to let their voices be heard. We will not be removing this campaign.

Unlike GoFundMe, GiveSendGo has already pigeonholed itself by appealing mainly to Christian evangelicals. It doesn’t have to worry about building a wide, cross-partisan userbase. Alternative platforms thus provide digital versions of the seedy spaces of analog life. They may be used to escape the strictures of mainstream norms at the cost of being reputationally tied to whatever subcultural focus renders the platform an alternative in the first place. Pornography and Soldier of Fortune Magazine were sold in specialty shops for a reason.

The varying decisions of GoFundMe and GiveSendGo demonstrate the value of Section 230 as an ecosystemic speech protection: it allows platforms to set their own rules, but its universal protections hold the door open to new platforms for disfavored speech and fundraising. As politically-charged incidents proliferate and the narratives surrounding them become less compatible, mainstream platforms will be forced to make binary decisions about an ever-wider variety of issues, creating more demand for alternatives.

Although Section 230 ensures that alternative platforms can set their own rules without fear of legal sanction, it doesn’t ensure they have everything they need to operate. Alternative platforms still rely on domain name provers and payment processors. In response to GiveSendGo’s decision to permit the Rittenhouse fundraiser, Discover Financial Services began blocking transactions to GiveSendGo. While Discover is far from the only firm in the payment processing business, its decision illustrates the seeming inescapability of political expectations and the appeal of decentralized, permissionless currencies like Bitcoin.

Cultural balkanization spurs platform balkanization as moderation decisions are subjected to increasingly exacting partisan standards. A renewed appreciation of neutrality and transparency in edge-case decisions might allow platforms to resist the pull of public opinion, but defensible neutrality can only gather legitimacy over time as it withstands repeated and varied demands. The flexibility demonstrated by GoFundMe over the past five years may preclude this option. If platforms wish to maintain neutrality in the face of politicized expectations, they may have to structure themselves more like protocols, structurally limiting managers’ ability to make decisions in politically contentious cases.

This article first appeared at the Cato Institute.

Image: Reuters.