Farage had a bank account at a very prestigious (i.e. image-conscious) bank. That bank decided to fire him as a customer because they perceived that being associated with him might harm the bank's reputation, and perhaps some personal vendetta against his politics by the bank's management.
On a purely objective level, the bank made the wrong decision, as it backfired rather badly. On the other hand, Farage as a neoliberal-populist should have been thrilled to be fired by his bank. Capitalism in action!
I don't disagree with your broader point, but it's nothing new. There are always things that you can't say. The creator of this website wrote an essay on the subject 20 years ago and it reads as true today as it did then. Before it was forbidden to say bad things about LGBT, it was forbidden to say good things about LGBT, indeed in many parts of the world that is still the case.
The thing that has changed is that while in the past people's political opinions would be something shared in private company, now we voluntarily broadcast them to the world. So people are more likely to find the limits of what you can't say today rather than in decades gone by.
On a purely objective level, the bank made the wrong decision, as it backfired rather badly. On the other hand, Farage as a neoliberal-populist should have been thrilled to be fired by his bank. Capitalism in action!
I don't disagree with your broader point, but it's nothing new. There are always things that you can't say. The creator of this website wrote an essay on the subject 20 years ago and it reads as true today as it did then. Before it was forbidden to say bad things about LGBT, it was forbidden to say good things about LGBT, indeed in many parts of the world that is still the case.
The thing that has changed is that while in the past people's political opinions would be something shared in private company, now we voluntarily broadcast them to the world. So people are more likely to find the limits of what you can't say today rather than in decades gone by.