PayPal Revises Its Policy Rules Penalizing Customers for Misinformation

JAKARTA - PayPal Holdings Inc announced on Monday, October 10 that it will not fine users for misinformation and an update to its previous policy that said customers would have to pay $2.500 in damages for misinformation or data transmission.

Shares of the San Jose, California-based company fell nearly 6% after the update, which PayPal said "included misinformation", sparked a backlash on social media over the weekend.

"PayPal does not fine people for misinformation and this language was never intended to be included in our policies. We apologize for any confusion this has caused," a company spokesman said.

According to several media reports last week, PayPal has published a policy update that prohibits customers from using its services for activities identified by it as "sending, posting, or publishing any message, content or material" that promotes misinformation.

According to the report, the new policy, which says customers will have to pay $2.500 in damages for each violation, was supposed to take effect on November 3.

Former PayPal president David Marcus slammed the policy in a tweet on Saturday, October 8, saying the new policy was "against everything I believe in".

"A private company can now decide to take your money if you say something they don't agree with. Madness," Marcus tweeted.

Elon Musk, the billionaire head of Tesla Inc who co-founded PayPal, tweeted "Agreed", while replying to Marcus' tweet. But PayPal finally made a clarification published in Bloomberg News.