PayPal removes ‘hate’ and ‘intolerance’ as reasons to debank users in updated policy
Payment platform PayPal has revised its policies regarding “hate” and “intolerance” in a move that will result in further protection against the debanking of customers based on their religious and political views.
The change followed a comment from the Alliance Defending Freedom to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. raising concerns that PayPal’s policies would let the company debank users for “hate,” “intolerance,” and “misleading information.” According to a release from ADF, these and other subjective terms could open the door to “politicized or unlawful debanking” under President Donald Trump’s executive order 14331.
PayPal’s policy had previously stated that it could stop transactions involving “the promotion of hate, violence, racial or other forms of intolerance that is discriminatory.” The revised policy removes that language and instead restricts transactions to those allowed “under applicable law.”
Other banks have made similar policy changes in recent years. Critics say the vague wording enabled the debanking of conservatives. GOP figures, up to and including President Donald Trump after January 6, have been debanked.
A report from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency also found that financial institutions had used vague “hate” policies to discriminate based on viewpoint.
“Americans should never fear that their bank or financial services provider will cancel them or deny them service because of their religious beliefs or political views,” said ADF Senior Counsel Jeremy Tedesco. “PayPal has a history of mixing business with politics, and its customers pay the price when they are punished for holding views the company dislikes. Its commitments are an important step toward preventing the unfair debanking of its customers, and we’ll be watching to ensure these changes are implemented and applied fairly. PayPal is an industry leader, and we hope others in the financial services and banking sectors will replace subjective terms like ‘hate’ and ‘misinformation’ with clear, objective standards that protect their customers.”
In 2022, PayPal froze the accounts of the Free Speech Union and its founder. It also froze the account of Moms For Liberty, reversing the decision only after a public outcry.
PayPal said in a public statement on its FAQ page: “PayPal reviews accounts fairly and consistently, making decisions based on account activity, not a customer’s religion, race, disability, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, political affiliation, or any characteristic protected under applicable law.”