PayPal Will Not Issue Fines to Those Using the Service for Misinformation

Paypal has been getting a lot of heat for their now retracted company policy. After PayPal's recent update, their user agreement now states that a user will be fined $2500 if they use the app to spread misinformation, according to CNET.

The company has already apologized for the policy change and claimed it was unintended. They took back the supposed mistake just as users were urged to delete the payment service app for the heavy fine they planned to impose on its 429 million users this coming November 3rd.

The Outrage From Critics

A great number of people have taken shots at PayPal for the absurd amount of $2500 as a fine. One of these people is the app's former president, David Marcus. He claimed that the new Acceptable Use Policy or AUP was insanity. Marcus worked for the company for three years since 2011.

He even went as far as saying that the private company can now take their user's money if the user said something they disagreed with. He added this statement before saying that PayPal's new policy goes against everything he believed in.

Even Elon Musk, famous for having strong opinions on Twitter, showed his agreement by replying "Agreed" to the former PayPal president's tweet, as shown by Fortune.

PayPal spokesperson told media outlets that PayPal is in fact, not fining people for misinformation and that it was never intended to be a part of their policy. It's hard for critics to buy their story since it was far-fetched to make a mistake that was precise and detailed.

Kevin Sorbo, a known actor, said in a tweet that Paypal was only sorry because they got caught. Dan Held, a former head of growth marketing for crypto exchange Kraken also chimed in by saying that freezing funds for thought crimes are despicable.

Another tweet from @blockchainchick also brought up the issue that many virtual asset holders feel, which points to the idea of the government using central bank digital currencies against its citizens.

Why Should It Concern its Users?

Not many people could say that they have read the fine print before they agree to the terms and conditions. This could pave a way for apps to slip in terms like what PayPal had just pulled. Users may be agreeing to policies unknowingly, which they will only realize once the damage has already been inflicted.

It could be dangerous especially if the app has complete control of what can be deemed "wrong" in a situation. Users fear that PayPal may be targeting them because of their political views as mentioned in Fortune.

Considering that $2500 was already a hefty fine for users, the fact that they will be charged for each offense adds to the absurdity. Since PayPal has sole discretion for what can be tagged as a policy violation, the fine can easily pile up and cost the user much more than just $2500.