Collective Shout, an Australian organization lobbies the payment processors to ban adult content from the internet, The payment processors acquiescence to Collective Shout.
Collective Shout is a self-described feminist non-partisan organization, but has alleged ties with anti-trans and conservative organizations. The group has developed a reputation as a sort of puritan crusade that targets everything from Detroit: Become Human to Tyler, the Creator.
Although itch.io has an adult content filter that can be toggled in a user’s settings, indicating whether they want explicit content to be visible in search results and on the store page, the sudden deindexing of NSFW comics, zines, books, games, and other published products on the website means that unless users type in direct links to explicit products, they cannot access them. As is often the case when explicit content is removed en masse, LGBTQIA+, furry, and other content that is considered “obscene” by conservative groups has also been delisted or removed, as reported by The Transfeminine Review. This is especially dangerous in a time when politicians and others in power (i.e. influential billionaires) are actively dehumanizing and disappearing trans people, immigrants, and anyone who steps out of line with the current regime.
I read somewhere that Collective Shout swayed the processors with around 1000 comments. And that because payment processors generally get so few comments that they felt like that was enough to make the policy change. Those of us who do care should probably figure out how to comment and push back. Might not be enough to save what was lost, but we shouldn’t let them get away with such an easy win.
Edit: found a thread on bluesky where this is already being organized. Also a link to a change.org petition. Obviously the phone numbers and contact forms linked in the Bluesky thread are probably the better route if you have the time, but anything is better than nothing.
Collective Shout, an Australian organization lobbies the payment processors to ban adult content from the internet, The payment processors acquiescence to Collective Shout.
https://www.gameshub.com/news/article/australian-anti-porn-group-collective-shout-escalates-its-war-for-video-game-censorship-2736180
https://www.comicsbeat.com/itch-io-delists-removes-explicit-comics-zines-games-more-under-pressure-from-payment-processors
I read somewhere that Collective Shout swayed the processors with around 1000 comments. And that because payment processors generally get so few comments that they felt like that was enough to make the policy change. Those of us who do care should probably figure out how to comment and push back. Might not be enough to save what was lost, but we shouldn’t let them get away with such an easy win.
Edit: found a thread on bluesky where this is already being organized. Also a link to a change.org petition. Obviously the phone numbers and contact forms linked in the Bluesky thread are probably the better route if you have the time, but anything is better than nothing.