PayPal caused an uproar on the internet after they "mistakenly published" a policy that would fine users $2,500 for misinformation.
The policy, which has now been termed an error, was planned to be imposed on 3rd November 2022, and more than 400 million PayPal users would have had to pay the fine anytime they breached the policy.
If the error were not detected immediately, PayPal would have gone on to deduct $2,500 from users who were found guilty of misinformation. This has led to questions like, does PayPal steal funds?
David Marcus, the former president of PayPal, also lent his voice to the matter, saying that the new policy PayPal planned to impose wasn't accepted.
"It is 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," David Marcus said in a tweet.
Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, supported David Marcus' tweet, saying that he" agreed" with what the former PayPal president said.
Upon detection of the error, PayPal apologized to the public, saying that the policy they put out was an error.
In a statement that PayPal spokesperson Justin Higgs released, the new policy about to be imposed was incorrect information.
"PayPal is not fining people for misinformation, and this language was never intended to be inserted in our policy. Our teams have made appropriate updates to correct these inaccuracies, and we apologize for any confusion this has caused," Higgs said.
Does PayPal Steal Funds?
Many influencers and prominent personalities like Elon Musk have reacted to the latest acclaimed "policy error" by PayPal.
The majority of the people reacting to the latest development have accused PayPal of trying to steal funds from people. Many others suggested that PayPal would have further deducted funds from people if their policy was not detected.
Senator Tim Scott (RSC), who recently co-sponsored GOP-led legislation targeting Google over allegations of bias, announced that his department is looking into the issue with PayPal. He made this announcement on Saturday before PayPal came out to say that the new policy they were about to issue was an error.
In a tweet, Tim Scott said, "Allowing private companies to become thought police would be an egregious and illegal overreach. My office will be looking into the validity of PayPal's new policy and take necessary action to stop this type of corporate activism."
With questions of "does PayPal steal funds?" arising, more users have fueled that thought process saying that PayPal was aware of what they were doing.
Dan Held, a former Kraken Exchange executive, said that the payment service users should delete their accounts for a while until PayPal rectifies the issue.
"PayPal freezing funds for thought crimes is despicable," Dan Held said in a tweet.