Did anyone see what Paypal was planning to stick into their user agreements?
Information was released by the Daily Wire that first discovered the upcoming ‘terms of service (ToS) agreement – a new clause that was added to fight against so-called ‘misinformation.”
The restricted activity section of Paypal’s user agreement shows that people who post or publish hate speech or misinformation (according to their opinion) may subject you to damages, including liquidated damages of $2,500 per violation. Is someone going to be watching to see if you post something they don’t like and report it to Paypal?
Specifically, the prohibited acts include ‘the sending, posting or publication of any messages, content or materials that promote misinformation. Yeah… your email, social media, etc. could get you a $2,500 Paypal fine – which isn’t their place to do even remotely.
The news was not accepted well by the public and a significant number of social media posts criticized Paypal’s decision to implement the new user agreement. Canadian lawyer David Anber wrote, “Hey, Paypal, you have 30 days to explicitly renounce this abomination of a policy, or I am permanently closing my account as will millions of others, I am sure. Your subjective views on ‘misinformation’ or ‘discrimination’ don’t entitle you to your clients’ money.”
What gives Paypal the authority to decide what misinformation is and punish anyone? I am sure they would be fair (smirks). Twitter and Facebook will restrict or suspend your account if they don’t like what you post – it has nothing to do with facts. Now Paypal wants to authorize itself to assess monetary fines for bad behavior totally unrelated to their services. Welcome to the Soviet Union.
How would you feel about Paypal pulling $2,500 from your user accounts because they decided your views are misinformation? Just FYI, Venmo is owned by Paypal.
This political correctness and ‘only say and think what the government or corporations approve of’ is getting out of hand. How do you feel about being a slave to the ‘thought police’ and THEIR opinions?’
If companies like Paypal can tell you what you can and can’t think or say and decide what misinformation is, we are dangerously close to a Communist regime. Even Zuckerberg admitted his “fact checkers” are using opinion (during a lawsuit) and aren’t really FACT checkers. Facebook was sued after allegedly lying and defaming an individual and its legal team claimed that the ‘fact checks’ are merely ‘opinion’ and immune from defamation.
A Paypal spokesperson came out on Oct. 8 that the user policy notice that went out was a mistake and included ‘incorrect information.” And we are supposed to trust them to decide what is and isn’t misinformation?
I think this spokesperson’s explanation says one thing: They got caught and are scrambling to reverse the damages and fallout from this horrible policy. They say it was a mistake, which probably translates to use more legal jargon to cover it up and keep it in place.
Moral of the story: Go read their policies and user agreements carefully, as you should all user agreements. The devil is in the details. I did and I won’t be using their services.