Last year, Owen Benjamin was kicked off of Patreon for violating their terms on “hate speech.” Benjamin then encouraged his fans to sue the site, given they had participated in, in legal terms, “tortious interference with a business relationship.”
Patreon’s terms included language that allowed any users of the plaltform to litigate their case individually under California’s JAMS arbitration scheme.
Under California law, Patreon would have to pay the arbitration fees up front, as each user would have to be dealt with on a one to one basis. These fees range from a few thousand dollars to over ten thousand dollars per case. It is unclear how many users intended to sue the platform…
This opens up Patreon to further suits from other creators and fans of creators who had been removed from the platform, such as Carl Benjamin, also known as Sargon of Akkad.
ConservativeChick