Lee Fang —
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau released a new rule enshrining freedom of speech for bank and lending customers. The agency rule posted yesterday seeks to bar financial companies from fining, suing, or de-platforming consumers based on online comments, customer reviews, political viewpoints, or religious views.
How will the Trump administration react to the CFPB’s new rules to protect consumers from censorship? The next fight over censorship could be against the banks.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau released a new rule enshrining freedom of speech for bank and lending customers. The agency rule posted yesterday seeks to bar financial companies from fining, suing, or de-platforming consumers based on online comments, customer reviews, political viewpoints, or religious views.
CFPB noted that the rule would prevent firms “debanking” or penalizing customers for engaging in wrongthink by cutting them off from vital financial services.
Take the example of PayPal, which briefly updated its customer contract in 2022 to fine users as much as $2,500 for posting “misinformation.” Under the proposed CFPB rule, such speech policing by consumer financial apps would be prohibited.
The rule has yet to receive much attention but could soon become the latest flashpoint in the new Trump administration.
In recent months, the CFPB has taken a number of steps to reach across the political divide and create new rights for consumers against the threat of censorship. The push against debanking, championed by Biden administration director Rohit Chopra, has won applause from Christian conservatives and some Republicans, who say they have faced institutional attempts at censorship.
Chopra, notably, has been at odds with other prominent members of the Biden administration. While elements of the White House and Department of Homeland Security sought to actively police misinformation and lean on private sector actors to censor content, particularly over the COVID-19 pandemic, Chopra has forged an independent course. [See our reporting from last year — Debanking Realignment: CFPB to Protect Christian Free Speech]
