PayPal is claiming that a policy change that would have fined users $2,500 for spreading "misinformation" was posted in error; but Senate candidate Blake Masters said Sunday that a non-bank lender such as PayPal should not be able to discriminate against users based on the political content of their speech.
"We need a bill of rights," the Arizona Republican told Fox News' "Sunday Morning Futures With Maria Bartiromo." "We need to ban companies at that level and that size — especially if they are touching banking or social media — we will ban these companies from discriminating against users because of the political content of their speech."
PayPal had released an "Acceptable Use Policy" which was to go into effect on Nov. 3, just a few days before the general election, that prohibited the "ending, posting or publication of messages, content or materials that meet certain criteria" to "promote misinformation," and said that it would punish that person or entity through "liquidated damages" of $2,500, reported The Washington Examiner.
A PayPal spokesperson said Saturday after backlash grew over the post that it was made by mistake.
"PayPal is not fining people for misinformation, and this language was never intended to be inserted in our policy," the spokesperson said. "Our teams are working to correct our policy pages. We're sorry for the confusion this has caused."
Masters pointed out Sunday that other companies are prohibited from such actions, and he said that if Republicans regain control of Congress and the White House, "we should make this unthinkable and make it illegal."
Masters debated incumbent Democrat Sen. Mark Kelly this weekend and told Bartiromo Sunday that the race is important for the party's push to regain the congressional majority.
"I think Arizonans saw a clear contrast between incumbent Sen. Mark Kelly, who's been a rubber stamp for Biden's failed agenda," said Masters. "That agenda has failed. I expected him to struggle to defend it and he did. All I had to do was go out there and tell the truth and explain to the people how Mark Kelly has kept Arizona's border wide-open and how his votes for the crazy trillions of dollars [in federal spending] have caused inflation."
Masters said he also believes his campaign has the funding it needs to push for a win against Kelly.
"I showed people that this race is winnable," he said. "I'm a much better candidate than Sen. Kelly, and I think we'll have all the resources we need for this race. I think it's good to be vote No. 51 of the U.S. Senate. It could not be more important."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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