PayPal Walks Back New Woke Policy After Massive Backlash

PayPal has retracted a published policy that would have fined users $2,500 for spreading “misinformation,” citing an “error” in the update.

The retraction comes after Elon Musk, a co-founder of PayPal, concurred with PayPal’s former president, David Marcus, on the company’s radical, woke direction.

Marcus stated that PayPal’s new AUP (Acceptable Use Policy) contradicts his entire worldview.

Since then, Paypal retracted its new woke agenda policy, stating;

“An AUP notice with incorrect information was recently sent out in error. This language was never included in our policy, as PayPal does not penalize users for misinformation. Our teams are in the process of revising our policy pages. “We apologize for any confusion this may have caused,” a spokesperson for National Review said in a written statement.

The course reversal occurred after the policy modifications began to attract media scrutiny and Twitter criticism.

The revised policy appeared to authorize the company to deduct a substantial amount of money from the accounts of users who spread “misinformation” and other newly listed offences.

According to the Daily Wire, the new terms were scheduled to be added to the restricted activity section of the PayPal User agreement on November 3.

Changes included prohibitions on “sending, posting, or publishing any misinformation-promoting messages, content, or materials.” While the previous policy already prohibited “hate,” “intolerance,” and discrimination, the new policy would have applied explicitly to “protected groups” and “individuals or groups based on protected characteristics.” Under this umbrella, identities such as race, religion, gender or gender identity, and sexual orientation existed.

The current company rulebook does not include these terms. It is unknown if PayPal will also remove these prohibitions on “discriminatory” language or if it will only remove the “misinformation” clause.

The company had originally warned that violating the rule against false information and hate speech “may subject you to damages, including liquidated damages of $2,500.00 U.S. dollars per violation, which may be debited directly from your PayPal account.”

Account holders accept and attest in a user agreement that the penalty is “currently a reasonable minimum estimate of PayPal’s actual damages” due to the costs incurred by the company in accounting for the violations and the damage to its reputation.

Peter Thiel, the founder of PayPal, has invested in several rising GOP stars and “conservative” businesses. eBay acquired the business in 2002 and has since managed it.

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

In recent years, PayPal has been known to censor or deplatform organizations or individuals for certain political commentary, especially when it is deemed to be on the right.

It recently outlawed Gays Against Groomers, a group of LGBT-identifying individuals claiming to raise awareness about the sexualization and medicalization of children through gender ideology and the transgender movement.

Minutes later, PayPal’s subsidiary Venmo reportedly restricted access to the organization.

Colin Wright, an evolutionary biologist, and Ian Miles Cheong, a journalist who regularly exposes the dangers of transgenderism for minors, have also been removed.