UPDATE (Oct. 7, 2022): Instead of rethinking its arbitrary policing of users’ expression in the wake of the Free Speech Union incident, PayPal is doubling down: The company has now informed users of changes to its acceptable use policy, including the addition of new categories of prohibited speech. These changes take effect on Nov. 3.
The new policy dramatically expands PayPal’s power to take action against users for activity on the service involving disfavored speech. That includes “any messages, content, or materials that, in PayPal’s sole discretion” are “harmful” or “objectionable,” depict or even appear to depict nudity, “depict, promote, or incite hatred or discrimination of protected groups,” present a risk to a user’s “wellbeing,” “promote misinformation,” or are, in PayPal’s opinion, “otherwise unfit for publication.”
That last provision effectively means PayPal can slap you with a violation of its acceptable use policy for anything you say as part of a transaction and any expressive content or materials for which you seek payment through PayPal. (FIRE accepts PayPal donations and hopes the company will not find that this blog is “unfit for publication.”) To amplify the chilling effect, each violation of the policy may subject a user to a $2,500 penalty, which PayPal reserves the right to debit directly from the user’s account.
As FIRE explains in our statement on free speech and online payment processors:
When these companies appoint themselves the arbiters of what speech and views are acceptable, shutting people and organizations out of the online financial ecosystem for wrongthink, they seriously undermine our culture of free expression.
We will continue to monitor this space.