Why do banks and credit card companies shut down the accounts of so many people who haven’t done anything wrong? That was the question that motivated me to start researching financial censorship a few years ago, and last year I dedicated myself full time to digging into this issue and writing my first nonfiction book on this topic.
I had a theory that financial policies were having a detrimental effect on speech. In months of research, what I’ve uncovered is far worse than I expected: bank policies have become a powerful tool to punish dissenting voices and censor controversial online speech. It’s a form of privatized censorship that has huge impacts on the lives and livelihoods of people, and almost no one is talking about it.
I’ve spent hours interviewing people who have lost access to their financial accounts. I’ve heard from directors of nonprofits struggling with blocked donations, journalists losing their accounts due to their reporting, online creators struggling with blocked payments, and so many others. With each interview, I’ve become increasingly convinced that we have a fundamental imbalance in our financial system: it’s far too easy for financial providers to deny services to people and organizations without facing any consequences, and marginalized communities suffer the most from those decisions.
“Financial censorship” isn’t a household term today, but it should be. It refers to the ways that finance companies pick and choose which speakers will be allowed to thrive with easy and immediate access to financial services, and which will struggle with closed accounts and blocked transactions. Financial censorship isn’t about creditworthiness or fraud protection; rather, it’s specific to when a financial institution limits or closes an account due to someone’s legal speech, actions, or community.
And it’s not just the financial companies acting on their own. In my research, I’ve found clear instances of direct and indirect pressure from the U.S. government to convince finance companies to shutter the accounts of certain people and organizations.
I am grateful to my agent, Madison Smartt Bell of Ayesha Pande Literary Agency, for representing this project. From the first moment I contacted him, Madison understood why this book and this research needed to be published. Even though I was an untested and unpublished author, he was committed to shepherding me through the proposal and contract process. Thanks to Madison’s unwavering support and skillful guidance, I’ve just accepted a book deal with Beacon Press.
It was very important for me to find both a literary agency and publisher whose values matched my own. Beacon is a nonprofit book publisher associated with the Unitarian Universalist Association, and they publish serious nonfiction books meant to change and uplift the world. My dear friend and fellow Freedom of the Press Foundation board member Dan Ellsberg said that Beacon Press has “consistently shown the kind of civic courage that we must have for our country to survive as a democracy.”
Courage, vision, and a commitment to justice are exactly what I was searching for in a publisher. I am happy to be joining the Beacon community, and specifically to be working with executive editor Joanna Green, who edited one of my all-time favorite books—Aubrey Gordon’s What We Don’t Talk About When We Talk About Fat.
I expect my book to be out in Spring 2026, which means it’s too early to pre-order a copy. But you can sign up for updates about the book and my research on this topic at https://financialcensorship.org. I’ll update that site and the mailing list when the book is available for pre-order, and I’ll also be sharing some exclusive content from the book to email subscribers.
Also, I’m still interviewing people who have lost financial services for engaging in legal speech. If you or someone you know has had a credit card, bank account, or payment service limited, please email me at research@financialcensorship.org.
Photo credit: Women’s march against Donald Trump” by Fibonacci Blue is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
rainey reitman's blog 