The People vs The Bank: Panquake launches BadBanki.com

Support a David vs Goliath struggle for justice against a powerful banking institution

After years of work behind the scenes, on 3rd April Talk Liberation (founders of Panquake) are taking the scandal-plagued Icelandic bank ‘Islandsbanki’ to Court. We are fighting abusive bank practices and demanding compensation for the damage done to our Panquake community by Islandsbanki. It is likely we are not the only ones affected by Bad Banking so we want to hear your stories too. Head over to BadBanki.com to learn more about how you can participate in this important effort. Read our press release about the launch of the Bad Banki campaign here.

Talk Liberation is committed to providing equal access for individuals with disabilities. To view an accessible version of this article, click here.

The world is urgently in need of ethical software alternatives - that respect users and make them the customer, not the product.

In 2021 we presented Panquake - our vision of a way to rebalance the distribution of power between social media users and platforms, creating a space where users can communicate without being profiled and exploited by AI, advertisers and Big Data.

Our ideas were enthusiastically adopted by thousands of grassroots supporters who gave their time, donations and energy.

This birthed Talk Liberation - our independent software development house which exists to make the internet a safer and more transparent place for everyone in the age of censorship and mass surveillance.

As recently revealed, Talk Liberation are working with the same winning Icelandic legal team that represented WikiLeaks and famously secured a USD$10 million settlement in Iceland against a payment processor acting for Visa & Mastercard.

Why?

• In 2022, our Icelandic banking partner Islandsbanki, which we playfully call ‘Bad Banki' (Banki is the Icelandic word for 'bank') froze Panquake’s seed funding without any notice — invoking money laundering and anti-terrorism legislation to do so

• The bank ignored Talk Liberation's financial good standing and disregarded our proactive and extensive compliance efforts. Bad Banki discontinued their banking services to us, closing our accounts and withheld our funding for nine months.

• Even though Islandsbanki eventually unfroze and returned our funds (effectively exonerating us from any stigma of wrongdoing) they have never compensated us or our community for the extensive damage caused by their actions.

• In March of 2023, Talk Liberation instructed lawyers to prepare suit to hold Islandsbanki to account. Over the last two years we have progressed the case through a series of preliminary hearings, culminating in an upcoming April 3rd case hearing which will result in the first judgement in what may be a longer fight. [UPDATE: Since publishing this article, our court date came and went but unfortunately was postponed by the court due to the judge apparently being ill. We are still waiting to find out our new hearing date and will let you know as soon as we do! Read our latest press release about this here]

• Despite all of this, Talk Liberation quickly pivoted and released other derivative products - ‘pieces of the Panquake pie’ — and while Panquake is very much alive & thriving, the damage caused by Islandsbanki’s actions unnecessarily punished our loyal donors and community.

The bank's motives remain unknown, but Talk Liberation is determined to get to the bottom of the matter. Regardless of motive, the process employed by the bank was fundamentally unjust and flawed. For this we will hold Bad Banki to account. If their actions also prove to be politically motivated, as in the WikiLeaks case, this could have significant repercussions for the outcome of the lawsuit as well as for the bank.

Now what do we do?

As we mentioned, this may be a long fight - the upcoming April judgement could be appealed through several rounds of higher Courts - but we are prepared for it. Here’s what our lawyers are saying:

“This case is yet another example of how the banking system is used to oppress free speech and journalism. Talk Liberation notified the bank of the existence of the funds, everything was done by the book… but it seems to me, they looked into the main shareholder Suzie Dawson and realised she was, in a sense, persona non grata in her home country of New Zealand as a vocal fighter for freedom of speech. For example, with WikiLeaks, this method has been used before, when the bankers gave the order through the international banking system to close down payments sent to WikiLeaks. My opinion is that Islandsbanki is obeying orders that are coming from the international banking system.” — Sveinn Andrew Sveinsson, Icelandic Supreme Court Attorney, at a preliminary hearing on 5 March 2025.

Talk Liberation and Panquake Founder Suzie Dawson is an internationally known former activist, organiser and journalist involved with various large scale social campaigns and journalism projects, including studying Snowden files live online and founding the Unity4J movement to free WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange. She worked to educate and organise ordinary people around the topics of state surveillance and privacy abuses, as well as human rights and socioeconomic issues. For years, her work was repeatedly shared by WikiLeaks and other noteworthy accounts.

"We aim to achieve justice for everyone who supports the Panquake campaign. Islandsbanki made a number of easily disprovable claims in an attempt to justify its withholding of our funds and closing of our accounts. It would be disappointing to discover that these were merely a cover masking a hidden motive of political persecution, whether it was aimed at us collectively or myself personally. One way or the other, we intend to get to the bottom of this for everyone's benefit and that is precisely what this lawsuit is about” — Suzie Dawson

Although Islandsbanki eventually released the funding - exonerating Talk Liberation of any accusation, implied or otherwise, related to money laundering or terrorist financing - the funds were released without any explanation, apology or compensation.

Talk Liberation suffered reputational and financial damages, and the flow-on effects of Bad Banki’s actions caused some members of our loyal community to suffer fear, uncertainty and doubt about the progress and future of the project.

The WikiLeaks case exposed abuse of power in the financial industry and raised deep questions around the hidden political bias within the banking system.

The Bad Banki case heralds a disturbing trend where similarly, a people-powered innovation that is seen as disruptive is stifled by financial institutions.

If we don't push back - innovation can be sabotaged or stopped in its tracks by those with both power and a potential agenda.

"This battle extends beyond one organization, it represents principles that affect every individual who believes in digital rights, and equitable treatment by financial institutions” — Suzie Dawson

Now is the time to play your part in standing up against bad banking.

Have you been treated unfairly by a financial entity?

We will publish your story anonymously. In under 250 words, please include:

• What happened

• Which country, you don’t have to name the bank

• Was the situation fairly resolved?

You’ll find contact information to submit your story here.

Are you in Iceland?

Support our team and the right to fair treatment of people everywhere, by raising awareness about our hearing in Reykjavik, Iceland on 3 April 2025.

The hearing is open to the public so come and witness a historic case of the ‘little people’ taking on a financial institution.

Check out BadBanki.com for more info on how YOU can help make a difference!

Case Updates

Our team will be heading to the hearing and preparing reports on the hearing and outcomes. We will keep you updated about the progress in this important case.

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