Armstrong Williams: PayPal Just Gave America an Eerie Glimpse Into the Future. Now, There’s No Going Back

Our right to free expression is unquestionably the most significant of all of the liberties that we hold most dear. It is the foundation of every right that we enjoy as Americans and is the reason why society exists in its current form, as well as the reason why it will continue to evolve each year so long as this right exists.

As we are well aware, the First Amendment guarantee of free expression only extends to censorship by state actors such as Congress, local governments and school boards. That’s why when a private entity decides to suppress speech, we frequently tolerate a certain degree of censorship before reacting and resisting. No revolution is necessary to change the policy of even the largest corporations, and no blood or death is required to strike fear into the hearts of private organizations. Instead, we need only to vote with our wallets and choose to transact with new companies that emerge as a result of the improper decisions made by the existing companies. Governments, on the other hand, do not provide us with this right; therefore, we must be willing to fight to the death to restore the principles we desire, should the government overreach.

But what happens when a business with the same impact on your life as the government goes badly? Recently, the payment processing behemoth PayPal crossed a line by implementing one of the most alarming and totalitarian rules ever imposed on clients by a private company. PayPal, a company already reviled for its poor customer service and arbitrary rules, decided to begin assuming the role of the thought police by modifying its terms of service to allow it to collect a $2,500 fine in addition to freezing a person’s funds if they spread “misinformation.”

It is not difficult to imagine the consequences of a payment processing giant instituting such an oppressive policy, making it not only the arbitrator of truth but also giving it a stranglehold over a person’s livelihood when it disagrees with that individual. The chilling impact on speech was evident, for instance, when the Canadian government began to freeze the bank accounts of protesting truck drivers earlier this year. It seems that PayPal, observing the effect Canada’s policy had on protests — essentially eliminating the protests overnight — decided to introduce a similar rule to establish themselves as influential speech moderators.

Misinformation is harmful to society and should not be tolerated. However, creating rules that permit a single body to determine what constitutes misinformation and what constitutes truth is inappropriate. Frequently, misinformation is just an unproven theory or a disputed viewpoint that causes dissidents to consider the opposition as the enemy.

Thankfully, PayPal reversed this decision, explaining that it was an error and was never intended to be included in the terms of service. Whether or not this is the case, it is evident at this point that PayPal is ready, willing and able to introduce repressive and restricted policies on the platform if public opinion shifts in

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