Earlier this month, the company was ripped online and many users left or threatened to leave after it was revealed that PayPal was going to start charging users $2,500 in fines if they were seen as spreading so-called misinformation via the platform. The company initially claimed that the announcement went out “in error” and added: “PayPal is not fining people for misinformation and this language was never intended to be inserted in our policy.”
"That’s terrific, or would be if it weren’t for the fact that PayPal’s current Acceptable Use Policy still threatens $2,500 fines per infraction for promoting 'hate' and 'intolerance' — language the Left regularly uses to characterize (and demonize) speech that is critical of its insane policies," PJ Media reported.
In a post that was last updated (as of publication time) on Sept. 21, 2021, the Acceptable Use Policy states: "You are independently responsible for complying with all applicable laws in all of your actions related to your use of PayPal's services, regardless of the purpose of the use. In addition, you must adhere to the terms of this Acceptable Use Policy. Violation of this Acceptable Use Policy constitutes a violation of the PayPal User Agreement and may subject you to damages, including liquidated damages of $2,500.00 U.S. dollars per violation, which may be debited directly from your PayPal account(s) as outlined in the User Agreement."
Among the prohibited activities are some very arbitrary conditions including "the promotion of hate, violence, racial or other forms of intolerance that is discriminatory or the financial exploitation of a crime" and items that are considered obscene." What one person believes to be 'hate' and 'intolerance,' of course, is not at all considered to be that by other people. An example would be a user who paid for a science website via PayPal that stated unequivocally that "there are only two genders" -- leftists at PayPal would deem that to be "hate speech" and "misinformation" because they believe the lie that there are more than two biological genders.
PJ Media noted these distinctions:
Click on [the] “Restricted Activities and Holds” section, and you’ll find a long list of “you must nots,” including the expected prohibitions of fraud, selling counterfeit goods, and the like. But included on the list of things you must not do is “Provide false, inaccurate or misleading information.”
False, inaccurate, or misleading in the eyes of whom? Why, of PayPal’s Leftist hall monitors, of course, and no one else, including the person PayPal accuses: “If we believe that you’ve engaged in any of these activities, we may take a number of actions to protect PayPal, its customers and others at any time in our sole discretion.” No one else’s. You’ll have no appeal, no recourse, no opportunity to present your side of the story.
"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' per offense," the Daily Wire added earlier this month.
"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," the report continued.
Again, several users moved their funds out of PayPal and vowed never to use it again over the policy, including conservative podcaster and author Candace Owens.
Just moved all money I had in my PayPal account out of it. And I very must suggest you do the same.
This is serious.
They are delaying the transfer “pending review” for 12 hours. But at least it’s done. #PayPal is dead. pic.twitter.com/Cr1EA1yQjh
— Candace Owens (@RealCandaceO) October 8, 2022
Our nation is bifurcating into left and right "tribes," but the division is not being fed by the right.
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