The group responsible is “Collective Shout”, the same org has targeted Steam before.
People on social media are now calling for people to contact Mastercard, Visa and co. and file complaints.
Noooooooooooooooo
Itch.io is delisting NSFW games due to pressure from payment processors
Submitted 8 months ago by Berin@discuss.tchncs.de to games@lemmy.world
https://itch.io/updates/update-on-nsfw-content
Comments
CleoCommunist@lemmy.ml 8 months ago
CleoCommunist@lemmy.ml 8 months ago
(Litteraly downloaded only two games front there)
KiWilly@lemmy.myserv.one 8 months ago
Guys hi, just looking for some support share, a Fantasy Adventure Story, for all ages and just some entertain with some storyes: www.youtube.com/watch?v=_mVIvQ1wsgg - maybe you are curious
tomi000@lemmy.world 8 months ago
How the fuck did we get to the point where a company which literally only takes your money and gives it to someone else (and also gets paid for that) can decide what kind of content people consume?
IzzyScissor@lemmy.world 8 months ago
To be clear - “Collective Shout” both is and isn’t responsible. It’s the payment processors who actually enacted policies and are using them as the scapegoat for negative feedback.
How many times have people reported Twitter after Elon Musk took over for showing Nazi propaganda alongside their ads - with no response. An ‘open letter’ in July about a game already banned in April? DELIST EVERYTHING IMMEDIATELY.
redwattlebird@lemmings.world 8 months ago
Goddamn cookers the lot of them. Perhaps I’ll make an abortion game on Itch in protest.
Psythik@lemmy.world 8 months ago
“Cookers”?
redwattlebird@lemmings.world 8 months ago
Local slang word that derives from “their brains are fried/not working” which also implies stupidity and fanatical adherence to things like religion, anti abortion, anti vax, and the like.
Cyberflunk@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Collective shout finacials year: 2024 revenue: 458043 employee_expenses: 107000 other_expenses: 215488 net_surplus: 135555 employees: total_fte: 2 full_time: 0 part_time: 1 casual: 4 volunteers: 15 donations_and_bequests: 389800 government_grants: 0 commercial_income: 0 expense_to_revenue_ratio: "70.4%" average_expense_per_employee: 39400 Leadership - name: Melinda Tankard Reist role: Founder, Movement Director public_socials: - Twitter: @MelTankardReist - Instagram: @collective.shout public_email_address: Not publicly listed salary: Not publicly listed - name: Caitlin Roper role: Campaigns Manager public_socials: - Instagram: @collective.shout public_email_address: Not publicly listed salary: Not publicly listed - name: Renee Chopping role: Campaigns Strategy public_socials: - LinkedIn public_email_address: r******@collectiveshout.org salary: Not publicly listed - name: Lyn Swanson Kennedy role: Campaigns Strategy public_socials: - Instagram: @collective.shout public_email_address: Not publicly listed salary: Not publicly listed - name: Coralie Alison role: Movement Operations Manager public_socials: - Twitter: @CoralieAlison - Instagram: @collective.shout public_email_address: Not publicly listed salary: Not publicly listed
ICastFist@programming.dev 8 months ago
Annoy them, call their bullshit, but don’t harass or threaten them, those are likely to backfire spectacularly
madsen@lemmy.world 8 months ago
I wonder who major porn sites use as payment processors? (I don’t know the answer, I’m just saying…)
NateNate60@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Most of the large ones only take bank transfers and cryptocurrency now.
SorteKanin@feddit.dk 8 months ago
I’m completely fine with certain content being delisted because it is considered essentially on par with hate speech or something like that.
However, I really do not like that it is payment processors making that call. If someone makes that call, it should be the store in question (itch.io, Steam, whatever) or it should be the government.
OldChicoAle@lemmy.world 8 months ago
I bet a lot is money that these companies would take money from Trump and never child fuckers.
qyron@sopuli.xyz 8 months ago
Let the Digital Euro become a thing. It will wreck havoc on the current payment ecosystem.
And the Digital Euro is not a crypto. It will be a digital currency, backed by the ECB, at a one to one exchange rate with standard euro currency.
ICastFist@programming.dev 8 months ago
Time for Brazil’s PIX to be exported around the world. That’s likely to be hard, as here it is a direct bank-to-bank transfer without middlemen, so it’d need cooperation between the involved countries.
qyron@sopuli.xyz 8 months ago
You’re describing the same system behind Wero and MBWay. We can just use cellphone numbers to move money from account to account, regardless of the banks at each end of the transaction.
JustARaccoon@lemmy.world 8 months ago
I mean the issue here is not with the money itself, it’s the payment processors
qyron@sopuli.xyz 8 months ago
The eEU is supposed to be one, itself. And even if it fails Wero and MBWay are growing, which are direct money transfer systems.
thr0w4w4y2@sh.itjust.works 8 months ago
be careful. stablecoins are a step towards central bank digital currency. once CBDC is established, it’s all over for freedom to spend money.
Appoxo@lemmy.dbzer0.com 8 months ago
You can still pay with gold and silver.
Jackhammer_Joe@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Euro(pe) is the MVP
network_switch@lemmy.ml 8 months ago
The various groups trying to ban payments for NSFW products and whatever else they don’t like would just target the ECB and member states to restrict transactions they don’t like
qyron@sopuli.xyz 8 months ago
It has its moments.
TwistedTurtle@sh.itjust.works 8 months ago
This is one of the big use cases I could see for a crypto like Monero. If someone made a Patreon-style site that used XMR, I’d be all over it.
It’s one of those network effect catch-22s though. There’s probably not enough people using Monero to justify creating a site like that - but we’ll never hit a “critical mass” of Monero users if there aren’t ecosystems that encourage its use.
SabinStargem@lemmy.today 8 months ago
I have the impression that the American government is doing all it can to delegitimize the American Dollar. Between that and the cultural impetus of sexuality, there is going to be a huge opening for Monero and friends to establish themselves as genuine currency.
WorldsDumbestMan@lemmy.today 8 months ago
I hope those “Payment processors” get vored alive!
Tattorack@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Ew no. Not vore.
WorldsDumbestMan@lemmy.today 8 months ago
Oh, suddenly it’s not ok when it’s not your thing? Yes, vore!
buddascrayon@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Meanwhile, on my feed there’s a post directly below this one about a compiler that will give you BSDM messages for good and bad coding and can even be hooked up to a remote butt plug to pleasure you when you compile a successful program.
ChickenLadyLovesLife@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Gives a new meaning to the term “code smell”.
abir_v@lemmy.world 8 months ago
The Rust community just knows what’s up.
protogen420@lemmy.blahaj.zone 8 months ago
cargo mommy reference
commander@lemmy.world 8 months ago
This is becoming the norm. Don’t think there can be some new payment processor based off traditional finance and banking that can get around this. Visa, MasterCard, PayPal, Square, SEPA, FedNow, etc will all rather block transactions to companies that deal in NSFW or whatever is considered dangerous content than try and be some neutral payment rail.
Any in terms of cryptocurrency, any stablecoin will end up subject to the same problems where the issued stablecoin is backed by a governments currency or bonds or even like corporate bonds which are regulated by countries and those are all clear ways to regulate what is appropriate for spending money on. Stablecoins have freeze and clawback mechanisms, at least the ones that are legally compliant. Really to me the only solution is for non-stablecoin/gold/etc backed cryptocurrencies to become popular for payments
abigscaryhobo@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Problem is the same as it has always been though.
Sex sells.
It’s gonna be a hard push for a lot of these companies to stop accepting transactions for NSFW stuff unless they can prove it’s harmful or they get legal repercussions because it’s a big part of business. In an economy where “year over year growth” is such a big deal, neutering transactions that account for (guessing generously) 7% of your revenue is a hard pill to swallow without serious force.
network_switch@lemmy.ml 8 months ago
We already have the example of now itch and steam getting hit by payment processor restricted on content. YouTube and advertisers wanting to not be shown on categories of content and demonetized channels. I remember headlines about Pixiv and payment processors some time ago
Lose access to the major payment processors and they’ll lose far more than 7%. Until there’s a means of payment thats popular enough to replace centralized authority payment processing, it’s an easy choice for businesses to sacrifice their sex related sales to not sacrifice the larger portion of their sales that they’d lose without support of major payment processors.
The way things are going, there’s going to be the need for popular NSFW specific stores that don’t use Visa/Mastercard, private bank transfers, or national bank transfers. There’s a split in internet video where porn sites are separate from stuff like YouTube. This payment processor content moderation is in the same vein as advertisers on YouTube and other social media networks
LettyWhiterock@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Absolutely fucked up.
kadaverin0@lemmy.dbzer0.com 8 months ago
Fuck these god-bothering pieces of shit. No, seriously. It sounds like they need it.
WorldsDumbestMan@lemmy.today 8 months ago
I suspect the reason why is that most of them are under pressure from the USA government, which is trying to recrete Gillead
NutinButNet@hilariouschaos.com 8 months ago
This organization is nuts.
This is from their FAQ:
Why don’t you include men in your mission statement? It’s not right to objectify men either.
A:
While both men and women can be sexualised, it is primarily women who are being objectified, and women who are far more likely to be negatively impacted by it as demonstrated earlier.
When men are sexualised in media and advertising, they are not typically demeaned, portrayed as decorative objects or posed as vulnerable and submissive in the ways that women are. Men are also rarely dismembered and presented as a collection of sexualised or individual body parts. Instead, men are depicted as hyper-masculine and strong. The sexualising and objectifying treatment of men may serve to enhance their power and status rather than to reduce it.
Having said that, we do not support ‘equal opportunity’ objectification. We encourage individuals to speak out against objectification including when men and boys are subjected to it.
I kept wondering why their focus was only on “girls, girls, girls” all over the place and everything was pink.
So media involving the dehumanization of men is totally cool with them. A game about raping men would be totally fine and no issues there because it’s not “typical”. Just don’t do anything to the girlys.
Katana314@lemmy.world 8 months ago
The thing is, I actually appreciate the idea of “de-objectifying” people in terms of fictional design; but I want that to be encouraged as part of the creative expression. A sexy female character with an identity and story behind her is a lot more fun to me than one just created to have big boobs. Heck, those same design principles can help design sexy men that appeal to female/gay groups.
But needless to say, forcing those views as part of these acts isn’t helping anyone. It’s just exerting forceful control, and we know how well that works for art.
finitebanjo@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Quick! Everybody grab copies of the furry titles and the Rick and Morty incest game!
Mostly Joking, I hope these games figure out how to run on Newgrounds where I expect them to be very well recieved.
burgerpocalyse@lemmy.world 8 months ago
aclu.org/mastercard petition
deafboy@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Since our launch in 2010, we have achieved many wins: billboards objectifying women pulled down, sexualised childrens clothing withdrawn from sale, sexually violent games banned, Andrew Tate’s pimping courses removed from Spotify, and an age verification trial underway to help protect kids from exposure to porn. Last year saw a record 34 wins.
On one hand, they help tighten the grip of economic fascism, on the other hand they also piss off Tate… #confusedboner
captainlezbian@lemmy.world 8 months ago
These are the sort of people who actually ban Christmas. And that’s what scares me. They can’t tell the difference between cheeky yet harmless fun, basic human variation, and evil, and they will make that your problem it they get enough power
NateNate60@lemmy.world 8 months ago
How’s this confusing? They’re a Puritanical group. They do Puritanical things. Literally nothing deep about it.
deafboy@lemmy.world 8 months ago
They are a dangerous cult fueled by a ton of repressed feelings. But so is Tate! If they wanted to fight each other for a while that would be pretty sweet.
Adalast@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Then let them fuck through a hole in a sheet and never allow a woman to climax. Leave the rest of us alone.
ICastFist@programming.dev 8 months ago
ArchmageAzor@lemmy.world 8 months ago
So how do we go about suing these guys? They’re erasing art. And no, I’m not just some gooner who wants more jackoff material, Itch apparently removed anything with nudity in it.
Adalast@lemmy.world 8 months ago
I am a guy who wants more jackoff material, and I am an adult, and I am allowed to have sources for that material that is not some piecemeal ad hoc storefront where I subscribe to individual developers who drip feed content as it gets developed.
I am all for supporting artists and have subscribed to a few Patreons when my wallet allows, but I like having a place where I can play some demos or games that an artist puts up for free because why not? I am so sick of storefronts being targeted like this. All of the porn on Steam is behind an age gate, and sure, Itch could use such a gate, but it doesn’t need to delist an entire form of art.
Lootboblin@lemmy.world 8 months ago
and I was just reading this yesterday:
MehBlah@lemmy.world 8 months ago
I’m wondering who gave these credit card companies the moral authority.
SkunkWorkz@lemmy.world 8 months ago
It’s not about morals. It’s purely about money. Porn sites are labeled as high risks because things like chargebacks, stolen credit cards etc happen more often at these adult websites. Not to mention the thin line between legal and illegal content. Therefore payment processors charge companies in the high risk category a higher fee since they need to audit these companies more frequently and deal with these chargebacks etc. more.
So either Itch.io goes into the high risk category and pay more for transactions or they remove porn. Maybe itch.io should just create a separate company to host these adult games.
jaupsinluggies@feddit.uk 8 months ago
But wasn’t that true before Collective Shite decided to piss on everyone else’s day?
finitebanjo@lemmy.world 8 months ago
I’m sure this is no coincidence that cbristofascists are in control of all the top branches of US Government.
mnemonicmonkeys@sh.itjust.works 8 months ago
Tbf, Collective Shout group is actually Australian
Adalast@lemmy.world 8 months ago
The fact that they hold the keys to the kingdom. Online retailers and businesses rely on credit card processors to be able to do business, which is all the leverage they need to exert tremendous pressure on the businesses they service.
This is something that really should be getting legislated against, but good luck in the US under the current administration. Maybe the EU has a shot.
inb4_FoundTheVegan@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Finicial authority beats moral everytime.
shads@lemy.lol 8 months ago
Posted this elsewhere so just going to copy paste here but with regards to Collective Shout:
I think we need to get this group to weigh in on the content of certain holy books. Surely as a secular organisation they will have no problem demanding that the bible and qur’an be banned (I bet I know which one they actually would like banned).
After all we don’t want kids exposed to books that contain incest, sex, violence, rape, etc. I’m sure there are some parts of Ezekiel they will want editted at the absolute minimum.
I imagine balkanisation would be one way to make them slightly less visible/insufferable, and you know they would love some factional infighting.
Every time they get brought up they should be forced to confront that the people pulling their strings are most likely engaging in all the things they want banned from culture (regardless of culture or intent). Once they are forced to start lobbying Visa and MasterCard to block transactions to religious bodies I will accept they genuinely believe in the drivel they leak. Until then its performative puritanism.
P.s. not a fan of religion of any stripe, but I would feel as violently opposed to censoring them as I am to censoring anything else, I will accept it if its the only responsible solution until then alternative can be found.
burgerpocalyse@lemmy.world 8 months ago
you aren’t going to get fascists on hypocrisy
shads@lemy.lol 8 months ago
Well yea, but also no. I think a lot of their ability to operate is the veneer of legitimacy they have, my suggestion above, while funny, was mainly facetious, however if we could figure out a way of stripping that legitimacy away they might see more pushback from the next company they try to convince they represent a statistically large chunk of the population.
In this exact situation if Visa had just said to them: “We will take that under advisement.” Then filed the whole thing with the crayon scrawl “letters” they get from a certain “BLEACH BLONDE BAD BUILT BUTCH BODY” about not letting the Jews buy any more space lasers. Then no one would be getting rights taken away from them.
ludicolo@lemmy.ml 8 months ago
Why not just call visa and matercard just like that stupid lobbying company. Obviously it is harder to change company’s minds, but maybe might accomplish something.
I hear shout has 1000 people on staff calling businesses, people could easily quadruple that.
shrodes@lemmy.world 8 months ago
To quote the good folks over at the TWG Discord
See also here for more numbers to call
as you may or may not be aware, indie video game and ttrpg marketplace itch.io has recently been pressured by payment processors like Visa Mastercard to remove and delist “explicit content” from their site. this has resulted in, effectively, the mass erasure of works published by lgbtqia+ artists. this is the stated end goal of targeted action against payment processors by the group Collective Shout which angles itself to be “protecting children” by erasing adult content from existence.
obviously that’s bullshit. but there’s some stuff we can do as a community to try and fix this!
payment processors do not give a single shit about the content their products are being used to buy. they only care about liability and shareholders. Collective Shout was able to get Visa Mastercard to act with barely over 1,000 calls that’s less than half of the people in this discord. i know it’s a lot to ask every single person to make a call to their card holder, but if you have the energy i highly highly recommend doing so at either of these numbers
Visa Headquarters: (650) 432-3200 Mastercard Headquarters: (914) 249-2000
here’s a little script to follow if you’d like!
“Hello, my name is _____, and I would like to file a complaint. I find it troubling that Mastercard is blocking content on (the platforms you use) and making it difficult for me to make legal purchases. I am going to stop using Mastercard if this isn’t rescinded and fixed."
if you don’t have a call in you, you can send an email to the addresses below and add your signature to this petition from the ACLU
Visa Support: askvisa@visa.com Mastercard Support: b2b.mastercard.com/contact-us/
this quote has been rattling around my head all morning: “They’re not worth your fear, but they are worthy targets for your rage.” - Chase Carter, Rascal.news
together we will win.
veniasilente@lemmy.dbzer0.com 8 months ago
Those people (Mastercard et al) do not listen to people, they listen to money.
Show them guillotines and molotovs so they understand they might not live to use their money, and they’ll pay (regardless of if you pardon my pun) attention.
MITM0@lemmy.world 8 months ago
So we get them jailed, they’re pedos & fascists. Start with petitions etc…
wclinton93@lemmy.world 8 months ago
ACLU petition concerning the payment processors: …aclu.org/…/mastercard-sex-work-work-end-your-unj…
Adalast@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Fucking signed.
RedGreenBlue@lemmy.zip 8 months ago
Can’t wait for an EU alternative to Visa/Mastercard. Heard Wero is supposed to be that.
mariusafa@lemmy.sdf.org 8 months ago
GNU Taller
RedGreenBlue@lemmy.zip 8 months ago
Sounds interesting!
SabinStargem@lemmy.today 8 months ago
I hope that as an American, I would have the option to use Wero for all of my purchases. I simply don’t trust my government.
lime@feddit.nu 8 months ago
we already had that: Eurocard. they needed to pay mastercard in order to be compatible with their terminals, and that relationship ended with mastercard just absorbing them.
they were started for the exact same reason that we are talking about, to get a european alternative. so obviously the answer is not free market-based.
kureta@lemmy.ml 8 months ago
There should be laws forcing payment processors to be neutral. They should have to accept any transaction that would be legal if made using cash.
Kevnyon@lemmy.world 8 months ago
Considering how long payment processing as a business has been a thing, I’m amazed its not more regulated in terms of being forced to be neutral or being unable to decline processing payments that are related to completely legal transactions.