Posted on 10/08/2022 12:28:01 PM PDT by lowbridge
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, told 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.
(Excerpt) Read more at nationalreview.com ...
“I quit using them a long time ago, but credit card companies aren’t any better.”
Then quit them too... Analog still works, just takes a little more effort.
I read the last two paragraphs in George Carlin’s voice - what you wrote was that good.
Another reason not to use PayPal.
I avoid PayPal like the plaque. It’s actually easy to avoid using.
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Everyone should practice good dental hygiene.
Language like that is impossible to add “by accident”.
They truly believe people are stupid.
Only floss the credit companies you want to keep.
“Language like that is impossible to add “by accident”.
They truly believe people are stupid.”
______
Exactly. I would think that they ran the updated language of their terms of service through their legal department before it was finalized. How does a “$2,500 penalty” clause become inserted by accident? Someone thought of the idea, typed up the clause, ran it by others at the company, and then by the legal team, before it was released. These people live in a bubble and assumed everyone would approve.
That appears to be exactly what it means.
The new policy is a direct threat to merchants using PayPal to collect payments. "Follow our ever-changing party line or be destroyed by punitive fees at our discretion."
Does this mean they can zap buyers who use PayPal to make purchases? If that is how the company wishes to implement their new rules, it is a direct threat to anybody who uses PayPal for any purpose.
It does not seem like a viable business model.
Update: PayPal Backs Off Policy To Pull $2,500 From Users’ Accounts If They Promote ‘Misinformation’
Update (2:43PM CST): PayPal has reportedly rescinded its updated policy to fine users $2,500 fines if they pushed purported “misinformation” following criticism by Tesla founder Elon Musk on Saturday.
“An AUP [Acceptable Use Policy] notice recently went out in error that included incorrect information,” the company reportedly stated. “PayPal is not fining people for misinformation and this language was never intended to be inserted in our policy. Our teams are working to correct our policy pages. We’re sorry for the confusion this has caused.”
EVERYONE on FR should do that.
D’oh!
Note to self: “No multi-tasking.”
Everything you say is true but l bet if someone got “fined” for speech someone like Landmark Legal would take the case pro bono.
Guess it’s a good thing I have never done business with Pay Pal for anything.
Never trusted on-line banking, paying, or any other transaction that I don’t have immediate control over.
Yes I do make on-line purchases, but only directly with the company I am buying from.
If you have a PayPal account (i.e., the company that owns Venmo) or linked to them as a merchant then their Acceptable Use Policy was going to be modified to letting them taking action, including liquidated damages of $2,500.00 U.S. dollars per violation, which may be debited directly from your PayPal account(s), for anything, at their sole discretion, they deem as being a “violation” without any due process, evidence, or proof. If you linked any bank accounts or other financial accounts, they may debit the accounts for this and if you keep your account there, you’re consenting to that. The “violations” could include anything you ever send, post, or publish of any messages, content, or materials that, in PayPal’s sole discretion are harmful, obscene, harassing, or do other activities they decide are objectionable. The USA Constitution does say that no State shall deprive any person of property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. Why would PayPal even consider violating this law so egregiously which every government official in America takes an oath to support and defend against all enemies, foreign and domestic; and bear true faith and allegiance to the same; taking this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that they will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which they are about to enter?
https://news.yahoo.com/paypal-policy-permits-company-fine-143946902.html
https://web.archive.org/web/20221004005909/https:/www.paypalobjects.com/marketing/ua/pdf/US/en/acceptableuse-full-110322.pdf
https://web.archive.org/web/20221004092533/https:/www.paypal.com/us/webapps/mpp/ua/upcoming-policies-full
https://law.justia.com/constitution/us/amendment-14/04-due-process-of-law.html
https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/5/3331
It has been said that GOVERNMENTS employ the best HACKERS ON EARTH!
“BELIEVE NOTHING—TRUST NO ONE—RESEARCH UNTIL YOU HAVE PROVEN IT TO YOUR OWN SATISFACTION”!
My motto that I have lived with my entire life.
BECAUSE IT WORKS!
Too late for PayPal on keeping my business. I’ve emptied out my account there, disconnected all my banks except the 1 where I’m sending funds, downloaded my history, and I will disconnect that one too once the processing goes through. Maybe I’ll ask them to commit irrevokably to following Due Process on matters like this. But, that might be a waste of time. Besides, they obviously don’t seem to have a good foundation of appropriate principles/values. Any company that seriously wants to do business with Americans will first/foremost commit themselves in respecting the rights of Americans contained in the Constitution. This slap in the face over Due Process rights is inexcusible.
PayPal whitewashed their website to hide what they had done. But you can find it here.
https://web.archive.org/web/20220000000000*/https://www.paypalobjects.com/marketing/ua/pdf/US/en/acceptableuse-full-110322.pdf
That’s not a U-turn unless they are committing to follow Due Process on this. If a Court orders $2500 or some other amount then so be it (along with the rights for appeals). But PayPal should not be doing seizures like this. They act like the shoplifters in California, except that they are going for 4x as much.
Well in my case they’ll never have the chance to do this as my 21 years of being a PayPal customer are ending.
I bet they are having a very serious electronic “bank run” right now. Any merchant or customer with a sizeable exposure is going to evaluate the risks of this level of exposure since PayPal has now shown that they aren’t really acting like a Bank and they’ve woken up a lot of people to the reality that PayPal thinks the money is theirs to make decisions about & that its not as safe/sound as their FDIC-insured accounts. PayPal never would’ve put out such language if their lawyers hadn’t come to some conclusion that PayPal had some special rights to spend this money. So, now anyone with a PayPal balance has to decide whether they want PayPal to have much access to such specialness.
In my case I decided NO. If I was a merchant I’d still keep a bit there temporarily until I could carefully weigh the impact on my customers. But my days of trusting that PayPal really respected my customer rights are over.
There is no law saying you can’t be required to pay someone $2,500 for each thing you agreed to pay $2,500 for.
In fact, you would not be holding your end of a legal agreement if you didn’t pay PayPal.
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