(FreedomBeacon.com)- After receiving criticism for its decision to cancel the accounts of some prominent groups, PayPal may be legally prohibited from rejecting users according to their political opinions.
PayPal has been blocking conservatives and right-wingers for years, but its latest decision to suspend the accounts of the Free Speech Union and other UK organizations that resisted lockdowns and vaccine requirements went too far.
Following the scandal, a number of Conservative Party MPs demanded in an open letter sent to Jacob Rees-business Mogg’s department that PayPal be legally prohibited from enforcing discriminatory practices. The letter’s signatures included Michael Gove, David Davis, and Sir Iain Duncan Smith.
The letter claims that it is challenging to avoid construing PayPal’s actions as a coordinated, politically motivated move to “stifle critical or dissident views” on these themes within the U.K.
The risks of permitting PayPal to abuse these powers were also powerfully emphasized in a piece by Jawad Iqbal published in the London Times this morning.
Iqbal said this is censorship by corporate decree; the firm establishes its own rules and applies them in accordance with its judgment. It seems ignorant of the idea that denying individuals access to necessary services because of their political beliefs is, in theory, immoral.
Iqbal questioned if it would be okay for a supermarket to refuse to service a customer due to their politics or for a high street bank to withhold payment from a business it found to be politically objectionable.
A new regulation that would end PayPal’s campaign against opposing opinions may be in the works after inquiries about the matter were made in Parliament.
Conservative backbenchers are debating introducing an amendment to impending financial legislation in the House of Commonsprohibitingt businesses from suspending activists’ accounts. According to a source, ministers are expected to approve the law revision.
The well-worn argument from leftists is that “PayPal is a private firm and may block who it wants,” who now fiercely defend monopolistic transnational corporations utilizing their strength and enormous resources to enforce censorship.
That isn’t accurate, at least not in the UK.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which oversees PayPal, stipulates that “All enterprises must be able to establish consistently that fair treatment of customers is at the heart of their business strategy.”
PayPal’s business model isn’t based on treating consumers fairly; instead, the reverse.
