Court denies Patreon injunction against fans of 'canceled' comedian

A California court sided with the fans of Owen Benjamin, a controversial right-wing comedian, Friday after Patreon -- a US fan-funding service --  sought an injunction against their arbitration suits against it.

Owen Benjamin, a comedian and an actor who is reportedly no stranger to anti-Semitic outbursts, as per the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, was removed from Patreon in late 2019 over alleged hate speech. 

He was also banned from major social media sites, including YouTube and Twitter, and payment services, such as PayPal.

The comedian instructed his fans to file suits against Patreon, claiming it interfered in their economic relationship with the content creator -- a complaint that, under Patreon's own rules, was to be settled via arbitration, with fees, under California's laws, set to be paid by the service. 

On January 1, Patreon changed its service terms to ban users from filing complaints over another user being de-platformed; furthermore, under the updated terms and conditions, the plaintiffs would have to cover all the fees themselves.

It also responded with a counter-suit against 72 of those, seeking injunction against them -- which was denied Friday, setting the site up for payouts of some $10,000 per arbitration case, which it will not be able to reclaim even if it wins. Furthermore, under California laws, the update to the terms of service could land the portal in further trouble.

The situation also potentially exposes the service to further lawsuits from fans of other right-leaning personalities it banned, including YouTube heavy-weights like Carl Benjamin (Sargon of Akkad) and freelance journalist Lauren Southern, with the latter already taking the first steps toward arbitration action.