A new PayPal policy update appears to authorize the company to pull a significant sum of money from the accounts of users who spread “misinformation.” Effective November 3, the new conditions will be added to the restricted activity section of the PayPal User agreement, the Daily Wire first reported.
Changes include prohibitions on “the sending, posting, or publication of any messages, content, or materials” that “promote misinformation.” While the prior policy already forbade “hate,” “intolerance,” and discrimination, the new one now also explicitly applies to specific “protected groups” and “individuals or groups based on protected characteristics.” Identities under this umbrella include race, religion, gender or gender identity, and sexual orientation.
“The promotion of hate, violence, racial or other forms of intolerance that is discriminatory” would also be deemed a violation of the policy and possible grounds for penalty,” according to the soon-to-be-launched acceptable use policy. The financial tech firm’s current rulebook doesn’t cite these activities.
Breaking the rule against misinformation and hate speech “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,” the company warns. In a user agreement, account holders accept and attest that the penalty is “presently a reasonable minimum estimate of PayPal’s actual damages” due to the expense the firm incurs by accounting for the violations as well as damage to its reputation.
“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.”
The move comes days after PayPal canceled three accounts linked to Toby Young, a commentator who runs a nonprofit called Free Speech Union. The organization has defended clients such as actor and comedian Russell Brand, who recently moved his show from YouTube to Rumble in reaction to censorship from the former platform.
Roughly one-third of Free Speech Union members rely upon PayPal to process their membership dues — although the company gave no explanation to Young for the suspension beyond mentioning a breach of the acceptable use policy. PayPal later restored the accounts after receiving criticism from lawmakers and apologized to Young for “any inconvenience caused,” according to a report from The Telegraph.
