October 11, 2022
After fiercely condemning its plan, PayPal has overturned a policy that imposes a $2,500 fine on users who spread misinformation or post content deemed inappropriate by the payment platform.
The policy, known as the Acceptable Use Policy, states that users will face fines of $2,500 per violation if they send content that PayPal considers objectionable, promotes misinformation or is otherwise unsuitable for publication.
Paypal’s stock fell nearly 6% after the policy was released, but the company now apologizes after fierce social media backlash and threats to close the account, claiming it was a mistake.
“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,” a company spokesman said.
While PayPal stated that the fines were never intended to be implemented, the policy outlining the fines was visible on the PayPal website in September and was removed in October after a massive backlash, including from former executives. The original plan, which has since been removed from the PayPal website, is available via the Internet Archive.
Before changing the plans, former PayPal president David Marcus slammed the policy on Twitter, saying it contradicted everything he believed in, a statement that Tesla CEO Elon Musk, co-founder of PayPal, agreed with.
The sources for this piece include an article in Reuters.
