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1Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute2Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors3Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches#OpPayPal was a July 2011 public boycott appeal: Anonymous and Lulz Security urged PayPal customers to close their accounts and publicize their decision. It was distinct from the December 2010 denial-of-service attacks against PayPal, which were a separate operation and later criminal case.
What #OpPayPal asked PayPal customers to do
In an open letter titled “A message to PayPal and its customers,” issued in the name of AntiSec, the campaigners urged users to close their accounts, consider alternatives, share pictures of account closures and spread the appeal. SecurityWeek reported on the campaign on July 27, 2011, describing it as a boycott or “Distributed Boycott of Service”—a call for customers to withdraw voluntarily, rather than an attack that disrupted PayPal’s systems.
The communiqué put its request plainly: “We encourage anyone using PayPal to immediately close their accounts and consider an alternative.” SecurityWeek’s contemporaneous report reproduces the letter and describes the campaign.
Why organizers said they were calling for a boycott
The organizers framed the appeal as protest over PayPal’s continued withholding of funds associated with WikiLeaks and the arrests of people accused of cyber operations. Those were the campaigners’ stated motivations and political claims; the available records do not establish that government pressure caused PayPal’s decision.
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PayPal’s own explanation was different. In a statement by General Counsel John Muller, dated December 8, 2010, and reproduced in an Australian Competition and Consumer Commission disclosure, the company said the WikiLeaks account was restricted under its Acceptable Use Policy and regulatory obligations after it concluded that the site encouraged sources to release classified material. Muller said: “Our only consideration was whether or not the account associated with Wikileaks violated our Acceptable Use Policy and regulations required of us as a global payment company.” The ACCC disclosure contains the reproduced statement.
#OpPayPal was not Operation Avenge Assange
The names and PayPal connection can make the two episodes easy to conflate, but they involved different actions and took place months apart.
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| Aspect | #OpPayPal | Operation Avenge Assange |
|---|---|---|
| When | July 2011 | December 6–10, 2010 |
| Action | A public appeal for customers to close their PayPal accounts and promote the boycott. | Distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks against PayPal. |
| Legal context | An advocacy appeal; the cited records do not establish criminal conduct in the account-closure campaign. | A cyberattack investigated and prosecuted in a separate case. |
PayPal suspended WikiLeaks-related accounts in late November 2010, citing terms-of-service violations. Anonymous then carried out the DDoS attacks known as Operation Avenge Assange. The U.S. Department of Justice’s July 19, 2011 arrest announcement concerned alleged roles in cyberattacks and stressed that charges were allegations. The department later reported that thirteen defendants pleaded guilty in the December 2010 PayPal attack case in its 2013 release. Those proceedings relate to the earlier DDoS activity—not to customers closing accounts in the July 2011 boycott appeal.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.How much impact did the boycott have?
SecurityWeek reported that PayPal had “over 100 million active accounts” and that “Supposedly thousands of accounts have already been closed.” The latter was presented as a reported claim, not a verified tally. The cited sources do not establish an authoritative number of #OpPayPal closures or a measured business impact, so they do not show whether the appeal achieved its goal at scale.
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