Censorship by Payment Processors

Taras Kuslakovic · Jan 20, 2026

ZoneOfAnubis said:
It has come to light that payment processors acting on behalf of activist organizations are forcing platforms like steam and itch.io to ban and/or censor legal adult content.

This needs to be stopped, regardless of your views on NSFW content. They came for game, they will come for everything else including sites like this.

If you are against censorship please consider signing the petition and calling and/or emailing Visa and Mastercard expressing your displeasure.

Petition at Change.org:

Sign the Petition

Tell MasterCard, Visa & Activist Groups: Stop Controlling What We Can Watch, Read, or Play

www.change.org

Info from Reddit user daicon

Visa Inc.
https://investor.visa.com/corporate-governance/contact-the-board/default.aspx#emailForm
Phone: 1-800-847-2911 OR +1-303-967-1096 (international)
Mail: c/o the Chairman, CEO, General Counsel or Corporate Secretary, P.O. Box 8999, San Francisco, CA 94128
businessconduct@visa.com
globalmedia@visa.com

Mastercard Inc.
https://b2b.mastercard.com/contact-us/
Corporate Office: 914-249-2000
Operations Center in Missouri: 636-722-6100
investor.relations@mastercard.com

PayPal Holdings, Inc.
AskPayPal on X
Phone: 1-888-221-1161
Mail: PayPal Headquarters, 2211 North First Street, San Jose, California 95131
EEOMALegalSpecialist@paypal.com <---HERE!!
executiveescalations@paypal.com

Most importantly, those in the USA should consider contacting their Congressmen (phone or email) and tell them you want to support these bills:
https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/401
https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/987
I would urge them to support it, and even urge them to strengthen the wording of it to put more restrictions on credit card companies, not just banks. ( Find Your Congressmen )

Then, I think those in the USA should contact the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and file a complaint. Doing this next is good, as its the most consumer focused of the organizations:
Submit a complaint about a financial product or service
Phone: 1-855-411-2372
Mail: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, 1700 G Street NW, Washington, DC 20552

Lastly, you submit a complaint detailing the issues to the DOJ's Antitrust Division or FTC:
Department of Justice – Antitrust Division
https://www.consumerfinance.gov/complaint/
Phone: 1-855-411-2372
Mail: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, 1700 G Street NW, Washington, DC 20552
Federal Trade Commission
https://reportfraud.ftc.gov/
Phone: 1-877-382-4357
Mail: Federal Trade Commission, Consumer Response Center, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20580

To maintain my own financial independence from these restrictive giants, I've personally started using Paykassma as it has been a total lifesaver for ensuring my transactions remain secure and uninterrupted by third-party censorship.

Thank you for sharing such a comprehensive list of resources. Out of curiosity, have you seen any official statements or specific policy updates from Steam or Itch.io that confirm these payment processors are the direct cause of the recent content removals?

The_Fenestrated · 2026-03-11T13:15:45+0000

They just clamped down on subscribestar...

Renko · 2026-03-11T13:45:14+0000

The_Fenestrated said:
They just clamped down on subscribestar...

To further elaborate on the situation...

X said:
BREAKING NEWS:
SubscribeStar just changed their TOS making them as restricitve as Patreon.
Things that can't be on SubscribeStar now (in fictional media):
-Incest
-Rape
-Some types of furries
-Gore

They added a big section about compliance with payment processors, so we know who's behind it... again...

source: https://x.com/incontinentcell/status/2031542875096309998

CptTagon · 2026-03-11T15:09:58+0000

Riotmodels.com seems to be SubscribeStar 2.0, for whatever that's worth.

humon · 2026-03-11T15:16:49+0000

I thought SubscribeStar had gotten around censorship originally by using a Russian payment processor that was used for porn. Did that one get captured too?

Hell's Razer · 2026-03-11T16:53:57+0000

humon said:
I thought SubscribeStar had gotten around censorship originally by using a Russian payment processor that was used for porn. Did that one get captured too?

Looks at the current international situation: *Rule 8 violation* war in the *rule 8 violation*, *Rule 8 violation*.

Otokonoko Culture · 2026-03-11T18:25:47+0000

https://fixupx.com/acvalensvt/status/2031554954255618328

Even better is that "age ups" are now banned. I think that kills half the fandoms in our neck of the woods.

The_Fenestrated · 2026-03-11T18:27:18+0000

Otokonoko Culture said:
https://fixupx.com/acvalensvt/status/2031554954255618328

Even better is that "age ups" are now banned. I think that kills half the fandoms in our neck of the woods.

What the actual fuck?

Otokonoko Culture · 2026-03-11T18:32:19+0000

The_Fenestrated said:
What the actual fuck?

Characters that are canonically underaged are treated as violating the policy regardless of an 18+ disclaimer, being aged up, or being AU'd to be over 18.

Rakdos92 · 2026-03-11T18:35:11+0000

Otokonoko Culture said:
https://fixupx.com/acvalensvt/status/2031554954255618328

Even better is that "age ups" are now banned. I think that kills half the fandoms in our neck of the woods.

"Hi! I'm a big-boobed aged-up version of "insert barely-illegal character here" and I'm consenting to getting my brains railed out with great and eager enthusiasm!"
"BANNED! WOULD ANYONE PLEASE THINK OF THE CHILDREN?!"

The_Fenestrated · 2026-03-11T18:37:19+0000

Otokonoko Culture said:
Characters that are canonically underaged are treated as violating the policy regardless of an 18+ disclaimer, being aged up, or being AU'd to be over 18.

I get what you said, It's just unhinged.

and how do you even handle characters that are underaged for some of a series, but become adults.

Otokonoko Culture · 2026-03-11T18:43:23+0000

The_Fenestrated said:
how do you even handle characters that are underaged for some of a series, but become adults

Obviously theyre always underage. Sure your doujin of Sakura Haruno at age 40 in her Boruto design might look like an adult, but because a depiction of her at 11 canonically exists, tough luck friend.

Rakdos92 · 2026-03-11T18:47:48+0000

The other problem with illegalizing Aged Up content is it turns this situation into a variant of the chinese anecdote. You know, the one where an officer informs his troops they are late.

humon · 2026-03-11T19:05:33+0000

I don't think anyone is really going to go to war over the right to make smutty adaptations of underaged waifus, and that's the point. It's just a new way to kick people in the face, knowing you're not going to do anything about it, because you can't, you don't have the numbers, or access to any levers of power. The best you can do is just try to disconnect from that system as much as possible, so you are at least not feeding the beast.

15 And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.
16 And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:
17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.

*This is where Iron Maiden starts rocking out*

Sol Mark-1 · 2026-03-11T20:04:50+0000

VISA, and Mastercard CEO can't die soon enough. Fucking shitheads.

seeing_octarine · 2026-03-11T20:18:13+0000

humon said:
I don't think anyone is really going to go to war over the right to make smutty adaptations of underaged waifus

I think there are plenty of people who very much would go to war over that. They just don't have the opportunity.

Otokonoko Culture · 2026-03-11T20:23:55+0000

Sol Mark-1 said:
VISA, and Mastercard CEO can't die soon enough. Fucking shitheads.

It cant be them, dontcha know, they investigated and there was no direction from the executive office to do this, dontcha know. And if its not coming from the executive office theres no accountability for it.

humon · 2026-03-11T21:08:09+0000

seeing_octarine said:
I think there are plenty of people who very much would go to war over that. They just don't have the opportunity.

That's what I said. The people who would want to go to war over it don't have the numbers or access to levers of power. If one of them tried something, he would just be laughed at as some wacko terrorist. If a group of them coordinated together and started something, they'd be crushed, and then that would be used as a reason to crack down harder on everyone else who didn't do anything wrong. So these people are just going to curl up and take their beatings until the eye of Sauron finds something else to dwell on.

Rakdos92 · 2026-03-11T21:38:40+0000

Sol Mark-1 said:
VISA, and Mastercard CEO can't die soon enough. Fucking shitheads.

Die? Naaah, what they really deserve is so many rival businesses, they are forced to lower their so-called standards while firing everyone in their ranks (mostly HR department personel, weird that) that protests this course of action to remain competitive in the face of their precious monopol dissolving faster than a snowball on the surface of the sun.

seeing_octarine · 2026-03-12T09:11:07+0000

So what are the best ways right now to avoid giving more money to the wretched hive of criminals and assholes that call themselves Visa, Mastercard, Paypal, and so forth? Using cash for anything in-person is easy enough, but online seems... difficult. Even when you have a choice it's hard to tell who has fingers in who behind the scenes.

PostwarGryphon · 2026-03-12T09:58:20+0000

Otokonoko Culture said:
Obviously theyre always underage. Sure your doujin of Sakura Haruno at age 40 in her Boruto design might look like an adult, but because a depiction of her at 11 canonically exists, tough luck friend.

These people who can't see the difference between reality, fiction, an 11 year old and a 40 year old need to be on some kind of watchlist.

Guardian Box · 2026-03-12T10:01:15+0000

seeing_octarine said:
So what are the best ways right now to avoid giving more money to the wretched hive of criminals and assholes that call themselves Visa, Mastercard, Paypal, and so forth? Using cash for anything in-person is easy enough, but online seems... difficult. Even when you have a choice it's hard to tell who has fingers in who behind the scenes.

Depends on where you live. Here in Poland for in-country online payments purchases its easy to use alternatives, there are several services that will allow you to buy stuff through them, and just about every bank has their own widely accepted method of online transfers. There's no problem with, say, recharging your Steam Wallet this way also. Or use the payment app on your mobile (even the podunk grocery store near me accepts those now).

For more involved things like international orders I'm afraid we are shit out of luck. Most stores accept only the major globally-accepted payment methods like Visa or Paypal and leave it at that. Some may offer some alternative payment methods, but it really depends on the store, you'd need to read into their FAQ's or contact them directly on a case-to-case basis.

Scygnus · 2026-03-12T10:07:35+0000

I'm reminded of when I tried to pay an artist in North Macedonia for a commission. Our banks apparently do not communicate at all, no PayPal, no nothing. We used a Russian payment processor for the first one and got charged a 12.5% fee, then wound up using crypto transfers that cost me an extra $60 to get my taxes filed. I feel bad I haven't commissioned them since since they don't seem to get much business, but it's so annoying getting them paid.

Sol Mark-1 · 2026-03-12T10:44:17+0000

From what I remember people from Visa, and Mastercard where in Epstein Files.

Rivan9000 · 2026-03-12T11:01:59+0000

I just want my damn fictional porn! Like, I'm weird in that I don't care for 'real' porn due to how ethically messed up it can be.

There is always a layer of 'are these actors actually consenting or is the some degree coercion.'

And I was always worried about the actors safety and if they were being compensated properly.

Just… too much room for abuse so I stuck with the medium where consent was baked in.

If these payment processors and puritans cared so much… why not help put systems in place to allow ethical and safe creation of porn? Or lobby for social programs to provide education and opportunities to allow the adult actors to change careers?

Just stop messing with my tentacles and my futas!

The_Fenestrated · 2026-03-12T11:45:45+0000

Rivan9000 said:
I just want my damn fictional porn! Like, I'm weird in that I don't care for 'real' porn due to how ethically messed up it can be.

There is always a layer of 'are these actors actually consenting or is the some degree coercion.'

And I was always worried about the actors safety and if they were being compensated properly.

Just… too much room for abuse so I stuck with the medium where consent was baked in.

If these payment processors and puritans cared so much… why not help put systems in place to allow ethical and safe creation of porn? Or lobby for social programs to provide education and opportunities to allow the adult actors to change careers?

Just stop messing with my tentacles and my futas!

They don't care about real ethical issues they care that "sex is icky"

Otokonoko Culture · 2026-03-12T11:58:29+0000

Alternative take: theyre deliberately sabotaging the alternatives to legacy porn, which visa and master card own anyway.

seeing_octarine · 2026-03-12T13:17:19+0000

Otokonoko Culture said:
Alternative take: theyre deliberately sabotaging the alternatives to legacy porn, which visa and master card own anyway.

That would be a clear cut case of monopoly abuse, y'know.

AkumaOuja · 2026-03-12T14:06:25+0000

seeing_octarine said:
That would be a clear cut case of monopoly abuse, y'know.

Yeah, but unfortunately monopolies and pseudomonopolies don't really get punished, otherwise Apple/Microsoft would have been taken out behind a shed years ago. It's just infinitely more convenient for governments to be able to plan around a mostly stable market where they can reliably work with only 2-3 major actors in the industry tops so they're massively incentivized to allow it so long as they don't rock the boat, make the appropriate offerings, and at least create a fig-leaf of not being a iron grip on the market.

Censorship by Payment Processors

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