The increasing tendency of social media corporations deleting or limiting their users’ accounts for expressing thoughts is incompatible with the American notion of free speech. Many have been blocked or “jailed” for a length of time due to posts that “someone” has considered “misinformation”; a phrase that appears subjective to the one utilizing it.
In recent years, the crime of “spreading false information” or expressing an opposing viewpoint has been a heated subject. Apps that integrate financial and social networking functionalities are currently approaching the market.
As new ownership and policies arise, worrisome features emerge that are manifestly not what the majority of people desire.
David Marcus, co-founder and former president of PayPal, voiced his displeasure with recent developments.
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. https://t.co/Gzf8faChUb
— David Marcus (@davidmarcus) October 8, 2022
The Daily Wire reported last week that PayPal was planning to implement a new policy that would allow the company to deduct $2,500 in ‘fines’ from the accounts of any user who was said to be spreading “disinformation” and “misinformation,” a determination that was, at best, arbitrary and dependent on perspective and viewpoint.
“The financial services company, which has repeatedly de-platformed organizations and individual commentators for their political views, will expand its ‘existing list of prohibited activities on November 3,” the outlet reported. “Among the changes are prohibitions on ‘the sending, posting, or publication of any messages, content, or materials that ‘promote misinformation’ or “present a risk to user safety or wellbeing.’ Users are also barred from ‘the promotion of hate, violence, racial or other forms of intolerance that are discriminatory.’”
The policy was said to apply to all PayPal-related acts. The publication continued: Determinations will be made at PayPal’s “sole discretion,” and the user may be liable to “damages,” including $2,500 “deducted immediately from your PayPal account” each transgression. The company’s user agreement has a clause that requires account users to affirm that the amount is “currently a realistic minimum estimate of PayPal’s actual losses” owing to the administrative expense of tracking infractions and reputational harm.
Consequently, payment processor PayPal is in financial trouble due to a policy that initially called for imposing a hefty fee on customers found guilty of distributing “misinformation” over the site, but which company executives later admitted was issued in “error.”
More on this story via The Republic Brief:
But within a day, PayPal hurriedly issued a statement denying such a policy was set to take effect. “An [Accepted Use Policy] notice recently went out in error that included incorrect information,” a PayPal spokesperson told the Daily Wire. “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.” CONTINUE READING…