Paypal $2500 Fine
So Paypal had introduced a $2500 fine it would issue to users for spreading "misinformation". They didn't explain what would constitute "misinformation". There was a huge backlash and they dropped it saying it was an accident. Then they quietly tried to sneak it back into the terms of service saying the fine was for “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.”
I am kind of surprised that I don't see many places in the FOSS world or even tech world in general talking about this. Many FOSS projects, Trisquel included, receive donations through Paypal and could be hit with a fine for very dubious reasons at any time. I know that there aren't a lot of good options, Stripe or Bitcoin being the biggest alternatives each with their own issues. Still you think there would at least be a discussion about leaving Paypal.
Thoughts ?
Why you prefer hide the term free as in freedom?
"Why you prefer hide the term free as in freedom?"
Was that directed at me ? If so I'm unsure how I was "hiding" a term.
Dear PublicLewdness, I appreciate you posting about this.
I oppose PayPal's policy entirely for various reasons. One of the reasons their policy made me so mad is many things that they were labeling as "mis-information" turned out to be factually true later. For example, in 2020, if you said someone who was vaccinated could still catch covid, you were called an "anti-vaxxer" who was spreading "conspiracy theories" and "mis-information".
The current year is 2023, and Joe Biden, President of the United States Government, caught covid after being boosted, among many others. So now we know that such claims were not "misinformation", but were true.
I do feel a need to clarify on what "Free speech" legally is considered in the United States.
The 1st amendment says the Government can not punish you or arrest you for expressing yourself in a "lawful" way. Obviously there is a caveat to this, that I don't really want to go into at the moment. For example, it is unlawful to threaten harm to someone. That is not protected. The 1st amendment does not prevent a company like Twitter, PayPal, etc, from putting in "restrictions" in their terms of service. I don't know if you saw the Twitter Files which were leaked after Elon bought Twitter, but they confirmed that the FBI had contacted Twitter and asked Twitter to censor tweets about certain topics.
One is not considered to have free speech on private property, and this is true both on physical private property as well as in privately owned digital areas (like Twitter).
This all being said, there has been more awareness raised on this topic, and I believe free software will help us to address this issue, and provide free alternatives to current platforms where controversial truth is often censored.
Anyways, I figured I'd get that internal rant out. Thanks again for mentioning this good sir.