UPDATE 5:18 p.m.: PayPal says we misunderstood them, and they’re so sorry we got all riled up for no reason.“An AUP [acceptable use policy] notice recently went out in error that included incorrect information. PayPal is not fining people for misinformation and this language was never intended to be inserted in our policy,” a PayPal spokesperson told The Epoch Times in an email. “Our teams are working to correct our policy pages. We’re sorry for the confusion this has caused,” the spokesperson added.
This wasn’t a mistake. PayPal issued their revised AUP policy in September that included the stricture against “sending, posting, or publication of any messages, content, or materials that, in PayPal’s sole discretion, (a) are harmful, obscene, harassing, or objectionable, etc.” If nobody had said anything, they would have gone ahead with it.
Original story:
The financial services company PayPal announced a controversial policy to deduct up to $2,500 from the accounts of users who spread “misinformation.”
Beginning November 3, the company will expand its list of “prohibited activities,” including “the sending, posting, or publication of any messages, content, or materials” that “promote misinformation” or “present a risk to user safety or wellbeing.” Users will also be penalized for “the promotion of hate, violence, racial or other forms of intolerance that is discriminatory.”
The kicker is, PayPal decides what’s “hate” speech, what’s “misinformation,” and what is “intolerant,” etc. Somehow, I don’t think their notion of “misinformation” would match yours or mine.
It’s apparently very expensive to oppress points of view the company disagrees with.
Deliberations will be made at the “sole discretion” of PayPal and may subject the user to “damages” — including the removal of $2,500 “debited directly from your PayPal account.” The company’s user agreement contains a provision in which account holders acknowledge that the figure is “presently a reasonable minimum estimate of PayPal’s actual damages” due to the administrative cost of tracking violations and damage to the company’s reputation.
“Administrative costs” of $2,500 being a “reasonable minimum estimate” of damages? Haven’t these guys ever heard of the “internet”? Here’s a PayPal joke for you: How many PayPal employees does it take to do an internet search for violent language from one user? Answer: Whatever they say it is.
“Under existing law, PayPal has the ability as a private company to implement this type of viewpoint-discriminatory policy,” Aaron Terr, a senior program officer at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, explained to The Daily Wire. “Whatever motivation PayPal has for establishing these vague new categories of prohibited expression, they will almost certainly have a severe chilling effect on users’ speech. As is often the case with ill-defined and viewpoint-discriminatory speech codes, those with unpopular or minority viewpoints will likely bear the brunt of these restrictions.”
Platforms such as Amazon, Twitter, and Facebook have formerly censored conservatives and others who subscribe to heterodox positions on controversial social issues, including transgenderism and homosexuality. GoFundMe seized millions in funds raised for trucker protests in Canada earlier this year, while Google recently began suppressing search results for crisis pregnancy centers.
“These kinds of policies are unwise, threaten free speech, and invite legal risk,” Jeremy Tedesco, vice president of corporate engagement at Alliance Defending Freedom, told The Daily Wire. “When companies apply policies to restrict the religious speech of their customers, they could run afoul of prohibitions on religious discrimination that exist in many state and federal laws.”
This is why the left is terrified of someone like Elon Musk taking over Twitter. Musk is not a right-winger by any means, but neither is he a radical leftist, as most social media platforms are run by and answerable to. Musk would actually make an effort to be fair — an intolerable situation for those intolerant of other viewpoints.
Make no mistake, conservatives will have their beefs with Musk for suspending and deleting accounts on the right. He is not a free-speech absolutist by any means. But the left will not control him. And that’s what they’re up in arms about.
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