Sure, I agree with almost everything you are saying here. I appreciate your words, and because of the many Russian friends I have, some very close, I know exactly what you are describing.

On the why question though, I can tell you that it’s definitely not insecurity. It’s not rage either; it’s just an honest opinion about how they are enforcing policies. I don’t doubt that they want to improve it as well, as someone who has lots of friends at PayPal (Venmo’s parent company). So you can even look at it as compassion on some level. And I take this as a lesson for myself as well, if I ever design a similar algorithm that deals with such issues.

More importantly, this has not gone under my skin personally at all. My friends and I laugh about it and have a drinking game to take a shot whenever Venmo does this to me (not abusing their system, just when it happens naturally).

However, having said all the above, this is a dangerous precedence that should not be thought of as being ok. A slippery slope, if you will.

And sure, flagging “Dutch” would be just as racist, in my opinion. And I wouldn’t say flagging country names is completely ok, but at least it’s closer to a framework you would imagine to be valid, when considering politics and financial transactions.

I hope that this makes it a bit clearer, but again, I appreciate the fact that we should be more understanding of each other, and vendors’ limits and obligations. I agree with all that, and you said it nicely. But where a dangerous door is opened, especially in this poisonous political air, we should be keen to shut it close as soon as possible. For the sake of future Russians, Dutch and Persians, and every other human being of the future, if nothing else :-)

Thanks again for sharing your views.