PayPal is a payments platform, very popular in the gambling industry like other e-wallets Neteller and Skrill. It was founded in 1998, in California, the US. This platform has recently invited lots of bad reviews and remarks for the de-platforming policies it opted for. It negotiates for unlocking user accounts that are looked down upon. Peter Thiel, one of its co-founders had also addressed the issue and raised his voice against the platform’s de-banking policies currently and has also referred to PayPal as oppressive in nature. Sites such as promoguy.us have been listing out credible casinos that offer PayPal as a potential payment tool and incidents such as these could potentially impact its popularity.
How has PayPal changed its policies recently?
PayPal was initially created to give users control and supervision over their money. However, recently, the norms laid down by the platform are leading to economic losses for the users. David Sacks, its founding COO has also expressed his opinion against PayPal’s current scenario. He has also criticized Dan Schulman, the current CEO for the changes imposed against the users. The recently imposed de-platforming measures by PayPal include the Free Speech Union, shutting of user accounts linked with Freedom Phone start-up, Consortium Need, and the Daily Sceptic. According to industry leaders, the wave of modernization in 2023, would also be a potential driver across the payment providers and tools. With other upcoming payment tools flooding the markets, such policies from PayPal could be a potential deterrent.
PAYPAL: an Episode of Black Mirror
The Free Press recently tweeted about PayPal’s changes from the initial aim to something that is absolutely contrasting. In this tweet, Elon Musk made his remark about how PayPal has been like an episode of the Black Mirror, a British television series. The series presents to the audience a Plutonian, hellish reality where machines control human beings. It is exactly the same manner that PayPal is gaining control over its users by ceasing their financial freedom and limiting their right to speak up. The PayPal Mafia includes David Sacks, Peter Thirl, and Elon Musk who expressed their opposing views on the degradation of PayPal and its initial statements of helping the users.
PayPal’s controversies
PayPal has also implemented $2 500 fines in October 2022 for users promoting misinformation that poses welfare and user safety hazards which are vaguely defined. Both prominent individuals like David Marcus, PayPal’s President, and former CEO Elon Musk as well as the general public strongly opposed this decision. On the 11th of October, 2022, PayPal retracted the imposition of fines and claimed that an administrative error took place. However, everyone felt that the rule was deliberately imposed and was not to be blamed on the Admin team.
The PayPal mafia
The PayPal Mafia includes a group of former PayPal founders and employees who are now involved with multiple tech companies. Elon Musk is the most-known member of the group. Peter Theil is one of the original founders of PayPal and is known as the Don of the mafia. Jawed Karim handled the fraud protection system of PayPal and later founded YouTube with Chad Hurley and Steve Chen. Reid Hoffman was the former COO who left PayPal after the acquisition of eBay to found LinkedIn. David O Sacks was also a former CCO who has now produced a film and also founded a social corporate network.
In a nutshell
On the 14th of December, 2022, a discussion started among the PayPal Mafia members. The majority of the members looked down upon PayPal over the crucial banking services. PayPal has recently banned its users and frozen their funds over their public free speech statement which brought about a conflict.
