Mailchimp

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Group.png Mailchimp  
(CorporationWebsiteRdf-entity.pngRdf-icon.png
Mailchimp logo.png
HeadquartersGeorgia (State), USA
InterestsInternet/censorship
Automated email subscriber service starting to censor users.

Mailchimp is an American marketing automation platform and email marketing service.[1]. Many independent media rely on the company to reach its email subscribers. In November 2020 the company started suspending accounts the company deemed "materially false, inaccurate, or misleading".

"Mailchimp, named after their most popular e-card character, launched in 2001 and remained a side project for several years, earning a few thousand dollars a month."[2] Mailchimp began as a paid service and added a free option in 2009. Within a year, its user base had grown from 85,000 to 450,000.[3] By June 2014, it was sending over 10 billion emails per month on behalf of its users.[4] In 2017, the company was gaining 14,000 new customers every day. The company has remained owned by its co-founders and has not accepted venture capital funds.[5]

The company is a Funding Partner of the CDC Foundation[6], an entity created by US Congress "to mobilize philanthropic and private-sector resources to support the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention."[7]

Censorship

  • In November 2020, the company updated its conditions, where Mailchimp now "does not allow the distribution of Content that is, in our sole discretion, materially false, inaccurate, or misleading in a way that could deceive or confuse others about important events, topics, or circumstances.", while on purpose leaving the definitions of the terms "materially false, inaccurate, or misleading" vague.[11]
  • At the same time, November 2020, the company cancelled SGTreport and Press for Truth (Dan Dicks).[12] Dan Dicks says he no longer has access to thousands of emails subscribers he’s accumulated for years, as he can’t access his account.[13]
  • In March 2021, steigan.no, one of the largest left-wing independent media in Norway and a prominent Covid-19 dissenter, received a notification that "Your Mailchimp account with the username steigan.no has been suspended for violating our Standard Terms of Use and Acceptable Use Policy." After complaining, the account was reinstated, without giving any reason for the suspension or reinstatement.[14]


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