"MasterCard, Visa & Activist Groups: Stop Controlling What We Can Watch, Read, or Play" petition gains traction as it reaches over 15k signatures

  • Thread starter Thread starter CoolMe
  • Start date Start date
  • Views Views 1,709
  • Replies Replies 21
  • Likes Likes 7

CoolMe

Well-Known Member
Member
GBAtemp Patron
Joined
Apr 16, 2019
Messages
9,472
Reaction score
46,571
Trophies
5
Age
31
XP
54,209
Country
United States
_Chrome.jpg


"MasterCard and Visa have increasingly used their financial control to pressure platforms into censoring legal fictional content. Entire genres of books, games, films, and artwork are being demonetized or deplatformed — not because they're illegal, but because they offend the personal values of executives or activist groups.

This behavior is not just overreach — it’s blatant hypocrisy.

These same payment processors allowed platforms like OnlyFans to operate with minimal oversight, despite multiple credible reports and lawsuits alleging the presence of real sexual abuse content involving real-life minors. That is a criminal failure of responsibility. Yet, when it comes to entirely fictional depictions, these same companies act swiftly — shutting down creators, restricting access, and acting as global censors."

"The pressure to do this is often fueled by advocacy groups like Collective Shout, a feminist organization that routinely campaigns against adult-oriented content — even when it’s fictional, legal, and clearly labeled for mature audiences."


The petition on Change.org urges these companies to stop acting as gatekeepers of media, highlighting concerns over financial censorship. It demands transparency, accountability, and a clear separation between payment services and content regulation—calling on Mastercard, Visa, and aligned activist groups to respect consumer choice and creative freedom.

We demand that MasterCard, Visa, and their pressure partners:

  1. Stop censoring legal fictional content that complies with the law and platform standards.
  2. Reject influence from activist groups that promote moral panic or misrepresent fiction as harm.
  3. Be fully transparent about content restrictions and the rationale behind them.
  4. Protect creators' rights to make legal adult content and ensure a fair appeals process for any penalized media.
:arrow:source
 
I don't care about any of the games they're purging, but payment providers being able to do such a thing in the first place creeps me out. I just know eventually they will go after a game I do care about. I hope someone stands up to them, as payment providers should not have THIS much power.
 
I don't care about any of the games they're purging, but payment providers being able to do such a thing in the first place creeps me out. I just know eventually they will go after a game I do care about. I hope someone stands up to them, as payment providers should not have THIS much power.
this.
just like you said, people have to understand that even if it's not a problem for them now, soon it'll happen for something they enjoy, be it a game, movie, anime or whatever even if it's nsfw etc. it shouldn't matter what it is, you should have the freedom to spend your money on whatever you want, and not let some cc company & activist group do the deciding for you. thus if this doesn't change now, it likely never will
 
Last edited by CoolMe,
What? You are saying that organizations which manage money transactions rule a capitalist world? I am shocked... that people noticed only now that they touched their precious Mario games.
I mean... they still rule in a communist and socialist world, just the only difference is that one has repeatedly collapsed and the other is constantly on the verge of collapsing if everything goes wrong since they do hold all the money of a nation
 
As much as I agree with censorship being stopped, and REALLY don't like payment companies being in control of what I can and can't buy and see, I feel like this will go nowhere. Until it hits the news, it'll just be in the background. Especially since the Steam censorship isn't the first time this has happened either. Sure I don't like the content of these things, but I believe in a right to choose. I've signed many-a Change.org petitions, and seen many of them just... go away with no fanfare at all.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Tipi and CoolMe
o look another change.org petition this will go well like it has many times in the past. especially when it's about trying to keep waifu games available 🤣
 
Last edited by Bladexdsl,
I would sign if anything of value was banned but is obscene and horrific games so I don’t really see an issue. God forbid we protect the most vulnerable in society.
I’m sure that forcing an entity to ask another company to ban games with fictional characters brings us one step closer to the release of the Epstein files.
 
  • Like
Reactions: CoolMe
im sure doing nothing will do alot of good
But these people aren't "doing nothing". They're creating a negative atmosphere and hurting the cause; doing nothing would be preferable.

Hope they're happy when instead of GTA 7 they get to play wholesome Bible games in the future. Learning about Moses has never been so much fun!
 
  • Haha
Reactions: Bladexdsl
I would sign if anything of value was banned but is obscene and horrific games so I don’t really see an issue. God forbid we protect the most vulnerable in society.
Back in 2023, Little Snitch firewall had a scuffle with PayPal because one of their randomly-generated license keys had the sequence of letters "ALEP", and PayPal demanded an explanation of what ALEP means otherwise their business account could be closed:

To a certain extent, it doesn't matter what content in question is being arbitrarily restricted by payment processors. I think the fact that they are able to do it at all is unfair. Maybe you got lucky and none of your favorite media has ever been restricted by Mastercard, Visa, PayPal, et cetera. But they have repeatedly shown willingness to refuse business for insane nonsensical reasons like ALEP.

If you believe that said "obscene and horrific games" should be illegal (since that would give Visa/Mastercard/etc a good reason to refuse business), I respect your opinion, but that is a separate debate.
 
Back in 2023, Little Snitch firewall had a scuffle with PayPal because one of their randomly-generated license keys had the sequence of letters "ALEP", and PayPal demanded an explanation of what ALEP means otherwise their business account could be closed:

To a certain extent, it doesn't matter what content in question is being arbitrarily restricted by payment processors. I think the fact that they are able to do it at all is unfair. Maybe you got lucky and none of your favorite media has ever been restricted by Mastercard, Visa, PayPal, et cetera. But they have repeatedly shown willingness to refuse business for insane nonsensical reasons like ALEP.

If you believe that said "obscene and horrific games" should be illegal (since that would give Visa/Mastercard/etc a good reason to refuse business), I respect your opinion, but that is a separate debate.

:teach:
 

Site & Scene News

Popular threads in this forum