I make a podcast called AXRP - the AI X-risk Research Podcast. I have an online store to sell merchandise, to which is associated a dedicated PayPal account. I recently got an email to the address associated with that account, saying that they have deactivated most services for the account for "the sale of sexually oriented materials or services". Of course, the AXRP store sells no such materials or services. See comments for their email to me, and my response asking them to re-open the account.
Resolves "YES" if PayPal informs me that my account is back to normal before Aug 1 2023, and that doesn't get overturned, or if it gets overturned but then they change their mind again etc - basically, if according to them, I can use my account as usual on 12 pm of August 1st 2023 (Pacific Time).
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People are also trading
Maybe this looks kind of sexual to a clip-y vision model?
edit: oh right paypal
https://www.reddit.com/r/paypal/comments/10dnspo/account_limited_for_sale_of_sexually_oriented/
This seems to have been resolved quickly by conscientious user, seems similar to your situation.
https://www.reddit.com/r/paypal/comments/t9fcnn/permanently_limited_for_selling_sexual_services/
It seems here like they had trouble lifting a ban. Other reddit posts seem troubled, but it's not clear if they were selling borderline-to-policy things or if they tried very much to lift the ban.
They sent me the following email to let me know this:
We're unable to continue processing payments for this account
We strive to provide our customers with seamless and user-friendly payments solutions. Unfortunately, sometimes we can't process activity for a variety of reasons, including local laws, our policies, or the policies of our partner banks and card networks.
Based on the information we have today, it appears that there was activity on this account that we cannot process. Specifically, the sale of sexually oriented materials or services.
What can I currently do with my account?
Unfortunately, at this time most of your account features have been deactivated. You can still view your transaction history, download account statements, or request copies of your data.
We may hold any funds in your account for up to 180 day(s) to cover things like chargebacks or other financial liabilities. We'll review the account periodically to see if we can release any remaining funds sooner. We'll email you the outcome of each review.
How can I learn more?
To learn more about the types of activity we can't process, read the Supported Activity section in our Help Center.
We understand this news may be disappointing. We apologize for the inconvenience. If you think we've reached this decision in error or have other information that could help us reactivate your account, please submit it to: deactivationqueries@paypal.com
Thank you for choosing PayPal.
@DanielFilan I responded to deactivationqueries@paypal.com:
Mistaken deactivation
To whom it may concern,
I recently had the PayPal account associated with this email deactivated for "the sale of sexually oriented materials or services". I believe that this is a mistake. AXRP is a podcast about research into whether AI poses an existential risk to humanity, as well as research into problems that ameliorate that risk. I have a Patreon and a Ko-Fi for this account, as well as a store (store.axrp.net) that sells the following products with the AXRP logo on them:
T-shirts
Hoodies
Socks
Jigsaw puzzles
Laptop stickers
Wooden ornaments
The AXRP logo is just the letters "AXRP" arranged in a square - I cannot imagine how it could be construed as "sexually oriented".
I presume that this deactivation was simply due to an automated error - if a human looks into this decision, I'm confident that they will be able to determine that the account should be re-activated.
Yours,
-Daniel