Censorship by Payment Processors

[ZoneOfAnubis]

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

 

[spktr alpha]

A Second petition, which might be more impactful due to it being brought under the ACLU.

Mastercard: Sex Work is Work. End Your Unjust Policy.

Mastercard's new policy unfairly targets the adult content industry, making sex workers more vulnerable, especially Black trans women. It must be stopped.

action.aclu.org

It targets Mastercard specifically and includes advocacy for both Sex Workers and Adult Content Creators.

It is for the US only as far as I can tell but I would recommend sharing and spreading the word even if you can't sign it. The petition itself is nearing its goal.

 

[StreamingViking]

I wonder if soon an EU initiative regarding this is also going to be started.