AG Paxton Joins Letter to GoFundMe Supporting Transparency in Charitable Giving

[caption id="attachment_333864" align="alignright" width="183"] Attorney General Ken Paxton[/caption] Attorney General Ken Paxton joined twenty-seven other attorneys general in a letter to GoFundMe expressing concern over the ambiguity and adequacy of GoFundMe’s terms of service. GoFundMe has claimed the ability to redirect donations made by users for activities or causes with which the company does not agree, but its terms of service are vague with respect to when it may stop, redirect, or reimburse a users’ donations without their express authorization. Before an online platform like GoFundMe can redirect funds or decide which fundraisers to block or take down based on partisanship or its own political preferences, it must clearly and directly disclose to consumers that it will do so. Attorney General Paxton previously issued Civil Investigative Demands to GoFundMe in February of this year, as part of an investigation into the company’s potential violations of the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act in its treatment of consumers’ charitable contributions made through the site. To read the letter click here.