PayPal ‘Sneaking Back $2,500 Fine’ May Be Another Piece of Misinformation

Social media was again abuzz on Wednesday evening about PayPal Holdings (NASDAQ: PYPL) and its $2,500 fine.

The fine made headlines earlier in the month because of a questionable bit of fine print in the Prohibited Activities annex of the Acceptable Use Policy (AUP). It said that PayPal could take action against users who participated in restricted activities and those actions included holding on to users’ money indefinitely — for “promoting misinformation.” 

Users were understandably incensed as in the words of former PayPal president David Marcus, this basically would be the company getting to “decide to take your money if you say something they disagree with.”

PayPal then responded via email sent to the Epoch Times and dismissed the bit about promoting misinformation as an error. “An AUP 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,” they said.

A few weeks later on Wednesday, a Twitter user called out PayPal for putting “the $2,500 fine back into its terms of service as soon as the outcry died down,” and called for people to share the information. But this, much like the “error,” is another bit of misinformation.

Just an FYI @PayPal put the $2,500 fine back into its terms of service as soon as the outcry died down.

Please retweet to raise awareness. Maybe this was just another accident. 🙄 #DeletePayPal pic.twitter.com/lv3SBZuy04

— The Gay Republican (@GayRepublicSwag) October 26, 2022

ICYMI – PayPal has reinstated its $2,500 fine for "misinformation."

— Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) October 27, 2022

As Twitter user Kelley K points out, PayPal “never removed the $2,500 fine. It’s been there for over a year. All they removed earlier this month was a new section that mentioned misinformation.” 

PayPal didn't sneak this back in. They never removed the $2,500 fine. It's been there for over a year. All they removed earlier this month was a new section that mentioned misinformation. (And no, I don't buy their excuse that it was added by mistake.) https://t.co/VgCv5GkMuS

— Kelley K (@KelleyKga) October 27, 2022

She unpacks the information in a short thread where she highlights that 1) the $2,500 fine has been there since September 2021, and 2) that PayPal did remove what was originally item number 5 of the Prohibited Activities annex, the portion that contained the questionable “promoting misinformation” clause that the company claims was an “error.” 

And 3) the other portion, item 2.f. which includes “other forms of intolerance that is discriminatory,” which some have pointed out may also be dangerous as the language is vague, has always been there since the policy was updated, and not recently added.

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Information for this briefing was found via Twitter, the Epoch Times, PayPal, and the sources and companies mentioned. The author has no securities or affiliations related to this organization. Not a recommendation to buy or sell. Always do additional research and consult a professional before purchasing a security. The author holds no licenses.