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The outcry against a controversial decision by Paypal forced the payment processer to backtrack the measure this weekend. PayPal intented to impose $2,500 fines to any user who, at the discretion of the company, was guilty of “misinformation” or pose risks “to the well-being” of others in its community.
PayPal’s backtracking occured after social media users criticized the policy and a massive withdrawal of money from the platform took place. Influential people from social media announced their decision to leave the platform and called to do the same. Eventually, the company’s stock was affected.
Elon Musk, founder, and David Marcus, former PayPal CEO, reacted against the move on social media. The latter spoke out against what would be the new policy: “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. A private company now gets to decide to take your money if you say something they disagree with. Insanity. “
Upon criticism of the new policy, PayPal issued a statement saying that it was a mistake and clarified that there was “incorrect information”.
“An [Accepted 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. We’re sorry for the confusion this has caused,” read a statement reproduced by Daily Wire.
But PayPal’s action does not appear to be an “error”, especially since it comes weeks after the platform blocked several major accounts in the UK, including Toby Young’s personal account, Free Speech Union and DailySceptic, very important portals that criticized COVID-19 measures such as lockdowns or vaccine mandates.
“Surely PayPal doesn’t expect that anyone on the planet really believes the claim that this was an “error.” There’s just no way. Everyone knows that something as legally and institutionally critical as the acceptable use policy would have to go through many layers of compliance bureaucracy and attorneys, especially highlighting the changes,” explained Jeffrey Tucker, founder and president of the Brownstone Institute.
“This change was so obviously approved at the highest levels. It was intended to stick, and PayPal had every intention of preparing the way to confiscate funds from people based on their political loyalties and opinions,” he added.
“It’s all too tragic. PayPal was set up initially as a means of obtaining financial independence from government-controlled banks. It even hoped to become an independent form of money. All these years later, it has been captured by interests that have the very opposite ambition,” he concluded.
Sabrina Martín Rondon is a Venezuelan journalist. Her source is politics and economics. She is a specialist in corporate communications and is committed to the task of dismantling the supposed benefits of socialism // Sabrina Martín Rondon es periodista venezolana. Su fuente es la política y economía. Es especialista en comunicaciones corporativas y se ha comprometido con la tarea de desmontar las supuestas bondades del socialismo