Itch.io 'deindexes' all NSFW games, blames same anti-porn group that campaigned against Steam
https://www.eurogamer.net/itchio-deindexes-all-nsfw-games-blames-same-anti-porn-group-that-campaigned-against-steamOpen linkView original on lemmy.caSyndicated from the fediverse. Read and engage on the original instance.
View original on lemmy.cahttps://www.eurogamer.net/itchio-deindexes-all-nsfw-games-blames-same-anti-porn-group-that-campaigned-against-steamOpen linkView original on lemmy.ca
38 replies
This has been a thing since at least 2010 when it happened to WikiLeaks.
see also: https://greenwald.substack.com/p/congress-escalates-pressure-on-tech
Ridiculous on their part.
With crypto going more and more mainstream, it won't be long before another payment system shows up and starts competing against Visa/MC and Paypal.
They are opening up a lane for a competitor to fill a fairly large gap.
First line of the bitcoin whitepaper deals with this lol.
Start using monero
Could this be some kind of tactic to manipulate the crypto market?
There's way more direct ways to manipulate the crypto market than whatever this would be.
These are the people whose business depends on the USD existing so maybe but it'd be stupid
I don't see why I'd have to prove anything to some random payment providers. Their job is to handle my payment for any legal purpose, not to morally judge me because some conservative organization from the other side of the world told them to.
People are entitled to equality in service. Porn is no more illegal then alcohol. If you can go to a grocery store and buy a bottle of whiskey on credit, then why should porn be treated any different?
That's up to government regulations and something that people can vote on - not something the payment processor can suddenly control and block
Hm... Looks to me like you're making excuses for a group of crazy anti-LGBTQ evangelicals who are using lies and slander to police the world based on your own flawed morality.
What the fuck are you even talking about? I cant tell if youre defending this shit, or having some weird view where you think youre against it. Either way, eww.
This person is also a racist. Not worth talking to.
That's not why they want to do the it. They want to do it because money and power.
They meaning everybody.
man these canaries keep dropping dead for some reason, I'm not sure why we had them
I feel like I used to know but I'm getting kinda sleepy and it's sorta hard to breathe
Not "pressure group". Radical religious groups trying to control everything everywhere.
This is so dumb. . I bet those guys actually watch the most porn.
100%
Almost invariably people like this have a crippling porn addiction and refuse to believe that they're the ones with the problem. They delude themselves into believing that if the porn just didn't exist that there wouldn't be a problem anymore.
Every acccusation is a confession etc etc
Whether it is this or tracking/disallowing firearms purchases, the payment processors should not be making editorial decisions on legal commerce.
If the item or service is legal in the jurisdiction, the payment processors should be on the hook for agnostically allowing the transactions. Period.
How do I start a payment processor?
Can I use it to pay for blackjack and hookers?
Yes. If it’s legal in your jurisdiction.
Research Swift or CIPS
And "how" did they pressure the payment processors? Pressure on central deciders or what? Spicy data on them?
And couldn't they influence elections that way?
Go listen to the first season of the Hot Money podcast, it'll explain it in much better detail than I'll remember. Essentially VISA and MasterCard don't like the reputational damage of being associated with certain types of porn. It's not a hill they're willing to die on. If you want your app to accept online payment you've got to be in line with what they find acceptable.
I find that unacceptable.
For what it's worth I don't think they particularly want the role either but until someone destroys the duopoly they have it's the way it's going to be.
Its the only thing I go to itch.io for.
I guess I'll go to the F95zone instead.
This law sounds good in theory, but there's a lot of lawful content that is really undesirable (scams, spam, deepfakes, hate speech, etc.) and platforms need to be able to deal with that. The law isn't fast or flexible enough to keep up, and every country has different (or laughable) definitions of some of these things.
The YouTube community guidelines are a pretty good overview of whatever shady shit people are trying to pull these days: https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/9288567?hl=en
I don't disagree with you, but you've put some thought into this so maybe you can help us understand your logic and rationale more.
What's profitable about losing sales of adult games?
Also, what leverage do these groups have over banks and payment processors? If you have leverage over Visa and MasterCard, some of the most profitable companies in the world, I could imagine doing way more nefarious things than this. I just don't get it. Some random group in Australia has leverage over Visa and MasterCard - American companies - is that what we're saying here?
I think you might have too much faith in government. Facebook and YouTube shouldn't be hyper-polarizing brainwashing machines either, but here we are 20 years later and governments have done jack shit to address that. If anything, we're going the wrong direction - Governments are seeing that and the TikTok model as tools they can have at their disposal to suppress dissent. But ironically, I think YouTube and many other platforms quietly accept that if we want to live in a somewhat harmonious society, we can't leave it to the government to make all the rules. (eg. YouTube banning vaccine misinformation and disinformation during a public health emergency.)
On a tangent here, maybe the only potential upside from this situation with Steam is that horrifically misogynistic waifu simulators aren't going to be 1 click away from the new Call of Duty. Seriously, Steam is just full of super gross anime shit that kids shouldn't see, but the main audience of the platform is kids. The way Steam puts that content beside everything else is really gross and they really should get called out for that.
Super insightful, thanks. Didn't think about any of that.
I don't like the precedent that Collective Shout set, but this is a VERY positive side effect. Love to see it.