GoFundMe Must Stop Blocking Lifesaving Fundraising Campaigns to Gaza

2025/07/28

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GoFundMe Must Stop Blocking Lifesaving Fundraising Campaigns to Gaza

As the humanitarian crisis amidst the Genocide in Gaza reaches catastrophic levels, we, the undersigned civil society organizations, condemn GoFundMe’s systematic restrictions on Palestinian fundraisers. Crowdfunding has become one of the only remaining avenues for civilians to access lifesaving aid. Yet GoFundMe, the world’s largest crowdfunding platform, has been repeatedly shutting down or restricting fundraisers for Palestinians, depriving families, mutual aid groups, and grassroots initiatives of urgently needed funds. These actions, taken in the midst of a famine and an ongoing military campaign that has already killed tens of thousands, are not only discriminatory, they are deadly. As UNRWA warns that over one million children are suffering from hunger due to the Israeli blockade, and there have been thousands of documented cases of severe malnutrition, it is unconscionable that GoFundMe continues to block humanitarian aid payments to starving Gazans.

GoFundMe has frozen or refunded millions of dollars raised for Gaza, offering little to no justification beyond vague references to “terms of service” and opaque compliance procedures. While the company claims to treat all users equally, mounting evidence shows that fundraisers for Palestinians face disproportionate scrutiny and a much higher likelihood of deplatforming, even when full documentation is provided.

The situation is especially appalling given the consistency of reports from organizers, many of whom are outside of Palestine, who describe being ignored by GoFundMe’s support team, having their pages suspended without warning, and being asked for exhaustive documentation that is then dismissed without explanation. Campaigns are “paused” indefinitely, refunds are processed without consent, and donor lists are withheld. Even organizations with verified documentation, such as The Sameer Project, which has provided hundreds of thousands of liters of water and medical aid to displaced people in Gaza, have been shut down arbitrarily.

GoFundMe’s actions reflect a broader pattern of digital repression and discrimination against Palestinians, which has been documented across social media and financial platforms since October 2023. Tech companies are playing a direct role in silencing Palestinian voices and obstructing solidarity efforts. Such practices raise serious concerns under the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, which affirm that companies have a responsibility to avoid contributing to human rights abuses and to ensure that their policies are applied equitably and transparently. Moreover, arbitrarily blocking aid during a time of Israel’s manmade famine, and during the Israeli military’s efforts to ethnically cleanse Gaza - part of its ongoing genocide, places GoFundMe firmly in complicity with the ongoing atrocities in Gaza.

We call on GoFundMe to immediately:

Reinstate legitimate Gaza-related fundraisers that were unjustly removed or restricted.
Release withheld funds and donor lists to campaign organizers.
Provide full transparency around its verification and compliance processes, including disaggregated data by country and cause.
End its discriminatory scrutiny of Palestinian-related fundraisers and apply its policies equally and fairly.
Establish a clear and expedited appeals process for fundraisers serving populations in crisis zones, including Gaza.