PayPal quietly reintroduces $2,500 “misinformation” fine

Not long after issuing an apology and retracting a $2,500 fine to its users, PayPal has quietly re-introduced the fine into their terms of service and legal agreements.

If enforced, the leading payment processor could fine users the hefty $2,500 sum for spreading “misinformation,” or “hate”, or whatever they deem “unfit for publication.”

While the wording has been changed up, the company has listed several things they would consider fining users over, purely based on speech:

PayPal restricted and prohibited activities

• The promotion of hate, violence, racial or other forms of intolerance that is discriminatory or the financial exploitation of a crime
• Items that are considered obscene
• Certain sexually oriented materials or services

• Act in a manner that is defamatory, trade libelous, threatening or harassing
• Provide false, inaccurate or misleading information

The original documents, which PayPal said were published in error, had much looser language on what would get users fined $2,500 over – namely the “sending, posting, or publication” of any “messages, content, or materials” that are “harmful, obscene, harassing, or objectionable.”

PayPal has seemingly taken a firm stance against adult / pornographic content in both policies, while the former prohibited things that “depict or appear to depict nudity, sexual or other intimate activities” the new policy vaguely prohibits “certain sexually oriented materials or services.”