For the better part of the weekend, PayPal caused online buzz after announcing that it would fine users $2,500 for spreading “misinformation.”
The company quickly retracted that communique after a heated uproar from various quarters. A company rep claimed that the notice on the Acceptable User Policy (AUP) was an error.
“An AUP notice recently went out in error that included incorrect information,” the statement said, “PayPal is not fining people for misinformation and this language was never intended to be inserted in our policy.”
One of the first people to react to PayPal’s UAP notice was former PayPal president David Marcus who tweeted;
“It’s hard for me to openly criticize a company I used to love and gave so much to. But PayPal’s new AUP goes against everything I believe in,” Marcus tweeted. “A private company now gets to decide to take your money if you say something they disagree with. Insanity.”
The new PayPal AUP had expanded the company’s list of prohibited activities to include the sending, posting, or publication of any messages, content, or materials that “promote misinformation” or “present a risk to user safety or wellbeing,”
Analysts say the new UAP as ambiguous and done in sharp contrast with modern global practices. One analyst wrote;
“This meant that if PayPal discovered someone posting such radical information as “men cannot have babies,” “men are not women,” or “there are only two genders,” they would likely be fined $2,500. It was just the latest example of the draconian measures the Left will resort to while trying to impose their political will.”
“Whatever PayPal’s intentions may be, censorship and chilling free speech is precisely the effect of these kinds of vaguely worded policies,” Another one commented.
Withdrawing the communication, PayPal said, “Our teams are working to correct our policy pages. We’re sorry for the confusion this has caused.”
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