{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.tillis.senate.gov/2022/10/tillis-leads-letter-seeking-answers-on-changed-paypal-policy-to-financially-punish-customers-over-misinformation", "Tillis Leads Letter Seeking Answers On Changed PayPal Policy to Financially Punish Customers Over \u2018Misinformation\u2019", "2022-10-19", "2022", "2022-10", "Republican", "Senate", "NC", "Thom Tillis", "T000476", "www.tillis.senate.gov", "tillis", "https://www.tillis.senate.gov/press-releases", "scraper", "WASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 U.S. Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) recently led a letter to Paypal, also signed by Senators Pat Toomey (R-PA), Tim Scott (R-SC), Bill Hagerty (R-TN), Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), Kevin Cramer (R-ND) and Steve Daines (R-MT), seeking answers over PayPal\u2019s recent announcement of a policy intended to financially punish its own customers for expressing views which PayPal arbitrarily classifies as \u201cmisinformation.\u201d Though PayPal ultimately rescinded the policy before it could go into effect, the Senators \u201cremain concerned about the processes and values in place at PayPal that allowed a policy such as this to move forward in the first place.\u201d\n\nThe senators wrote, \u201cAs widely reported, PayPal issued an update to the terms and conditions of its AUP, which is scheduled to take effect on November 3, 2022. This update included language that would have allowed PayPal to fine any one of its 429 million users up to $2,500 per offense for spreading \u2018misinformation.\u2019 Disturbingly, the drafting of the policy gave PayPal \u2018sole discretion\u2019 regarding what constitutes \u2018misinformation.\u2019 In effect, PayPal sought the ability to define, then punish its users\u2019 public thoughts.\u201d\n\nThe senators continued, \u201cAdditionally, PayPal attempted to downplay the dramatic shift in policy this provision envisioned by arguing that its user agreement \u2018has long-stated that PayPal can take funds of up to $2,500 or local equivalent from an account for each violation of the Acceptable Use Policy.\u2019 Yet a review of PayPal\u2019s current Prohibited Activities list shows the vast majority of violations arise from breaches of public law or transactions for specific disfavored items or business practices. The addition of a vague prohibition on spreading \u2018misinformation\u2019 not only would have concerningly expanded the scope of punishable actions, but also would have decreased clarity and increased subjectivity within the Prohibited Activities list. PayPal users deserve clear rules of the road for using the platform, not punishments for open-ended, subjective offenses.\u201d\n\n\u201cGreater encroachment by large technology and financial companies into public speech will only exacerbate Americans\u2019 increasing mistrust of such institutions. Moreover, countless major news events over the past several years have taught us that public information continually evolves, often causing individuals, groups, and organizations to reassess what once appeared to be settled fact. Given this reality, policies that empower companies to punish individuals\u2019 beliefs by acting as arbiters of fact in our ever-changing news and public debate environment represent poor business decisions. Instead, large technology and financial institutions should focus on serving the needs of their customers without bias,\u201d the senators concluded.\n\nRead the full letter here.\n\n###", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-06T18:34:28Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.tillis.senate.gov/2022/10/tillis-leads-letter-seeking-answers-on-changed-paypal-policy-to-financially-punish-customers-over-misinformation"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.0519640054553747, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}