Braintree (owned by PayPal)

Illinois
Payment Processing

Corprate Bias Ratings

Risk Level:

Rating - Danger
High Risk

Braintree is a subsidiary of PayPal. Braintree does not provide protections against viewpoint discrimination, and its parent company has pledged to vet vendors for LGBTQ+ policy. PayPal has shut down many accounts, such as the Christian crowdfunding platform GiveSendGo, for purportedly violating its "Acceptable Use Policy." It has banned users without warning for discussing differences based on biological sex. Braintree covers the cost of "medically necessary transition-related care” for its employees and their children and advocates for the Equality Act. Moreover, PayPal partners with the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) to help police charitable organizations by defining "hate groups" and acceptable conduct. PayPal also funds the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Planned Parenthood. For these reasons, Braintree receives a High Risk rating.

Criteria
Risk Level
Rationale
Corporate Weaponization
Criteria

Has denied service to customers, suppliers, or vendors due to their political views or religious beliefs OR corporately boycotts, divests, or sanctions regions, people groups, or industries.

Risk Level
Rationale

PayPal, Braintree’s parent company, received a score of 100 on the Corporate Equality Index from the Human Rights Campaign (1). Among other requirements, this means the company has pledged to vet vendors for LGBTQ policies. PayPal has shut down numerous accounts for violating its Acceptable Use Policy, including GiveSendGo, a widely-used Christian crowdfunding platform (1). PayPal banned evolutionary biologist and writer Colin Wright from receiving payments after Mr. Wright claimed that there are biological differences between males and females and pushed back on popular theories surrounding gender (2)(3). PayPal also partners with the SPLC to identify “hate groups” and “extremists” and consequently suspend their accounts (4). PayPal received a score of 100 on the Corporate Equality Index from the Human Rights Campaign. Among other requirements, this means PayPal has pledged to vet vendors based on LGBTQ policies (5). PayPal also suspended the account of Moms for Liberty, only unfreezing the account after Governor of Florida Ron DeSantis brought the matter to light (6). PayPal canceled the Gmail account of “Gays Against Groomers, “a coalition of gay individuals who oppose the sexualization, indoctrination and medicalization of children” (7)(8). In the fall of 2022, PayPal announced a new Terms of Service Policy that would fine users $2,500 for “misinformation.” After immense and immediate backlash, PayPal changed the policy to fine users for “intolerance” as opposed to “misinformation” (9). PayPal banned Freedom Phone, a mobile phone startup with its own app store (10). PayPal also suspended the personal account of British journalist Toby Young and later the account for his publication, the Daily Skeptic (11). PayPal reversed those suspensions after pressure from members of the British Parliament. PayPal suspended UsForThem, a group of parents fighting to keep schools open during COVID-19 (12).

Criteria

Charitable giving (including employee matching programs) policies or practices discriminate against charitable organizations based on views or religious beliefs.

Risk Level
Rationale

Braintree provides its services at a discounted rate to accredited nonprofits, and the company does not exclude faith-affiliated organizations from its discount (1). However, PayPal’s Giving Fund requires that charitable giving is made to organizations that have not breached its Acceptable Use Policy, which prohibits transactions related to “the promotion of hate, violence, racial or other forms of intolerance that is discriminatory” (2). PayPal has partnered with the ADL to vet charitable organizations (3).

Criteria

Employment policies fail to protect against discrimination based on political affiliation/views and/or religion.

Risk Level
Rationale

Braintree does not provide political viewpoint protections for employees (1)(2).

Corporate Governance and Public Policy
Criteria

Uses corporate reputation to support ideological causes and/or organizations hostile to freedom of expression.

Risk Level
Rationale

PayPal has a perfect score on the HRC’s 2022 Corporate Equality Index. This score indicates that Braintree covers the cost of “medically necessary transition-related care” for its employees and their children (1)(2). The company also advocates for the Equality Act and has opposed state-level efforts to protect the integrity of women’s sports (3)(4). PayPal also denounced election integrity legislation at the state level (5). PayPal opposed the Florida Parental Rights in Education Act, which prohibits teaching gender identity and sexual orientation in schools to kids in K-3rd grade (6). PayPal CEO Dan Schulman released a letter opposing the decision overturning Roe v. Wade (7).

Criteria

Uses corporate funds to advance ideological causes, organizations, or policies hostile to freedom of expression.

Risk Level
Rationale

Braintree has not used corporate dollars to support ideological organizations hostile to freedom of expression (1). However, PayPal’s Giving Fund has donated to the American Civil Liberties Union and Planned Parenthood and has partnered with the Anti-Defamation League (2)(3). PayPal also uses corporate funds to pay for employees’ abortion-related travel expenses (4).

Criteria

Uses corporate political contributions for ideological, non-business purposes.

Risk Level
Rationale

Braintree does not have a PAC. Braintree’s parent firm, PayPal, has a history of bipartisan PAC giving that focuses on business interests without an ideological agenda (1)(2).

All links were last accessed and all information was updated on:
August 11, 2023

Company reports are intended for educational use only. Full Disclaimer

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