I didn’t know this till I heard a podcast series about this, but the global rulemakes for porn are Visa and Mastercard. They decide what “goes too far” and remove a site from their service if they don’t like it, effectively cutting off all revenue streams and killing the site. They did this with porn sites and threatened OnlyFans. There are a bunch of rules they’ve written for the industry (e.g. fingering an orofice with4 fingers was acceptable, but when the thumb goes in then it becomes “fisting” and this used to be unacceptable), but many rules are unwritten and have to be guessed.
I think this is the podcast series for anyone interested (although I heard this a long time ago and I’m not sure if it was a different series and I’m not going to listen again to confirm).
yup they did this a LONG time ago with porn sites and DVD sales. I used to work in that industry as a web developer in the early 00s. Third party billers specifically set up for the porn industry thrived because of this.
there were many silly rules like you said, no fisting, at most two fingers in the asshole, Incest was “OK” as long as it was “step-” whatever BUT you could get away with it if you laid the ground work initially and say “step-mom” or whatever and then later on just say “mom”. Step-Dad was…hit or miss if you could get away with it. Scat was a no go BUT piss was ok IF it was from Europe, sorry US folks, you’re not allowed to piss on each other and film it in the good ol United States according to Visa and Mastercard. Finally some stuff like gang bangs or “abuse” porn was fine AS LONG as the girl at the end of the video has a mini interview claiming what a great time she had while covered in jizz. Visa and Mastercard needed to ensure this lady enjoyed herself.
fucking really dumb rules and I would have LOVED to be a fly in the room when Visa and Mastercard lawyers came up with these things.
I…
This is gold!! I’d love to read more about it!! It’s very fascinating how payment system can control the type of content that is available for consumers
It was pretty wild. I wish I still had the list of visa/MC “no-nos”
I mean honestly the US government was more lax. all they wanted was us to ensure we were following the 2257 stuff and documenting all the talent.
surprisingly though American Express was a lot more “liberal” with this stuff. guess those dudes were just kinkier.
Payment processors should not be allowed to dictate what content they allow to be bought and what not. It’s not their job to police people, let me live ffs
Agreed. If it’s not illegal then it should be allowed. Not that I approve of this type of content, but corporations should not be selectively enforcing their morals.
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I think platforms should freely moderate and that payment processors shouldn’t even know the legality
Here’s what i think is likely. For one reason or another, they get excessive refund/chargeback requests regarding these types of titles and decided to act as they don’t think it’s profitable.
I don’t think they care what so ever what you buy, as long as it’s profitable for them.
I wish that was the case. It’s mostly just extreme right lobbying groups like Focus on the Family and the Alliance Defending Freedom, the same groups that control the far right, exert colonial control over impoverished African countries, and generally make the world a worse place for everyone. The same groups that manufactured cases to screw up Dobbs, Wedding cake lawsuits, and death penalty laws for LGBTQ citizens of Uganda.
Do you have proof of this? Capitalism doesn’t know any sort of morality or ideology other than that which allows it to extract the most value
We need to stop these Christians from oppressing us.
I’m already looking into organizing a secularist group, both lobbying in the style of SKG, both uncovering pseudo-secular organizations rebranding christian moralism as “common sense”.
uncovering, documenting, and analyzing them is important. even compiling other’s work on a blog is useful
The NGO called “Collective Shout” is behind this one. They are a feminist organisation against the objectification of women and the sexualisation of girls.
Yeah, no.
First off: payment processors (yet again) don’t get to dictate what I as a customer am allowed to buy or not. Their reasoning doesn’t matter. If they prohibited sexual material (most do) then they are effectively trying to ban me from consuming or using sexual materials. Fuck. That. Shit. I don’t care for their reasoning, they are a payment processor, process payments and GTFO.
Secondly: this has nothing to do with refunds or chargebacks. Sex is the biggest product on the internet, still, and they’d bank like there is no tomorrow would they allow it. A more realistic scenario is that some religious organizations got their hands in there somewhere as they tend to do, in an effort to ensure that their sick mentality gets applied for everyone because there is no religion like a fucked up religion
Payment processors, such as PayPal. Are private companies and have a wide discretion to decide who they do, and don’t do business with. Just like you as a private person have a wide discretion to decide who you do, and don’t do business with.
A baker has every right to refuse a customer that wants a cake with a swastika on it. So the same rules have to apply to PayPal being allowed to refuse to do business with certain industries. They are not your bank.
If, it was some “religious organization” that got their hands in PayPal. Why would they only stop authorizing payments in certain regions? Wouldn’t it then be applied everywhere?
The fact that it was only in specific regions. Makes it far more likely that it’s due to the legislation in those regions regarding incest. Rather than a moral decision from corporate PayPal to stop authorizing payments to Steam.
Steam did not remove every porn game. They removed those belonging to a very specific category.
None of that is relevant to the other comment’s point that these companies should not have that level of authority to dictate what we can or cannot purchase. If it is legal to purchase, then payment processors should not be allowed to deny the purchase. Period.
I’m not even sure those titles are legal everywhere.
Allowing digital purchase of illegal products can very well be criminal for the payment processor in certain regions.
I mean just look at those titles. “Incest daughter - BDSM”.
Which is why the retailer, Steam, already restricts certain regions from buying titles if they are deemed illegal in that region.
Again, it is not the authority of the payment processors to dictate what people can and cannot purchase. Period. No excuses or justifications will be accepted.
You are still refusing to acknowledge that regional legislation can easily prohibit purchases from sources that facilitate illegal products.
I have never heard of a case where payment processors refuse to authorize payment of a legal product because they don’t like the product.
Do you comprehend how big of a problem it is if a payment processor can’t authorize payments to steam? That’s not something they do for the fun of it. It’s because there are legal hurdles. Everyday they can’t authorize payments is lost revenue, and risk of losing customers.
I’m sorry, but you will just have to source your incest porn games from somewhere else.
And you’re missing the point where payment processors aren’t the police. They are not the ones to make any decisions like that, yet they do.
Point in case: hoe many payment processors allow legal porn?
It’s easy to jump onto child pornography, but it’s completely missing the point.
I’m not missing the point where payment processor aren’t police. But they still need to follow legislation in the region they operate.
First of, it’s not “Point in case”, it’s “Case in point”.
Second, I can honestly say. I have no idea how many payment processors does or does not authorize payments regarding legal porn for various websites. Feel free to link an article or source that investigates that particular topic.
If you look at the post. They claim “Possibly related to PayPal because people in certain regions have not been able to use it to pay on Steam.”
If this was PayPal taking a stand on a corporate level against porn games on steam. Why would only certain regions be affected instead of everyone?
The obvious answer, is that it’s only certain regions, because of their legislation. If PayPal wish to do business in their region. They have to follow their laws for those customers.
I’m equally cautious and curious… Redemption of Li Wei…?
As long as I get to keep my VR Paradise
Wait a minute, PayPal is pulling puritanical bullshit again? Did they learn nothing from the last time they tried that?
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You know what? I’m going to buy some yaoi on steam out of spite. Spite yaoi.
Payment processors and financial institutions sure do seem to hold disproportionate amounts of power.
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Drawn and CSAM don’t go together
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Ohh look i did want to to argue either. I just think it is a bad idea to throw those two together because most people are too ignorant/emotional to make a difference and thats bad.
And a thought is not a crime imo so whatever fantasy rocks your boat idc.
What happens when someone bought these games. Do they get deleted from their computers and/or from their accounts? Do they get reimbursed?
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Even after comment removal, their message lives on…
was replying to a different comment, doesn’t show preview of what I am replying to until after its posted so…yeah just cut paste and delete
I wouldn’t really care if Steam decided to crack down on porn games, its their store. Payment processors being the ones to force Valve’s hands simply doesn’t sit right.
an unelected duopoly can basically dictate global laws.
definitely dystopian
Dude SWIFT has more financial power and sway than visa and mastercard. They’re the folks who manage the network that allows bank transfers to happen nigh instantaneously. So if they block you, you are fucked.
the network that allows bank transfers to happen nigh instantaneously.
Ah, so I guess Canada doesn’t use them! Haha
Haha but also last I checked everyone but north Korea uses them and north Korea I’m just pulling out of my ass because it makes sense to me.
Ted Cruz in shambles
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Transcript
nickyflowers: It would be cool if websites let you be an adult on them. The advertisers and payment processors need everything to be Family Friendly though their definitions of family and friendly are fucked. But since they’re in charge of the Internet now, no one is allowed to be an adult. TikTokers say things like “unalive” and “seggs” because they know death and sex are too adult for online. Online is for idiot babies only now because they’re easier to market to.
nickyflowers: Oh I’m sorry you’re a trans adult? Super ban. You are super banned for life. You have upset Visa’s feelings. Mastercard is throwing up in the corner. How could you do this to Google Ads?
Absolutely spot on. It reminds me of a comment I saw somewhere on here a few months ago where some clown used “seggs” and someone else responded to them and said they can just say sex because there aren’t any algorithms here that would cause problems for them. The clown has a complete meltdown and ranted and raved in response about how they’ve been using “seggs” long before the internet or some wild shit like that and how dare anyone tell them that they don’t have to use it here. The really fucked up thing was that he got a bunch of up votes and the person they lost their minds on was down voted to hell. I felt like I was losing my mind reading that interaction.
This might sound like a good idea. But it is not, since lets say some topic is too sensitive for the payment processor, then they have monopoly on what game can and can not be allowed on Steam.
So in the long run, this is a bad idea.
This doesn’t sound like a good idea in any way. Why the fuck do banks get to say how my money is used? They can literally eat my shit.
I 100% agreed. BUt maybe some people thought it sounded like a good idea.
Eh, it sounds like a good idea that incest games are getting removed.
how does that sound like a good idea?
Why?
Because incest games shouldn’t exist.
I am in no way endorsing this, but I’m agreeing with the top comment that it only sounds like a good idea at first, but it’s actually not.
Why shouldn’t they exist?
Oh no, anyway.
I don’t care about these games and not even about steam, but a payment provider having any power over what content a service offers is really bad. It’s like your supermarket checking if you eat your food they sold you with cutlery.
I think a better example would be net neutrality. The whole purpose of the payment provider is to move money from Person A to Person B. Just like how ISP is meant to get you from Website A to Website B.
It would be like your ISP going “Woah there buckeroo. You can’t go to Duck, Duck Go to search. We only let you go to Google.”
Ahh man, Australia have tried DNS blocking websites via our ISPs however running your own or changing your DNS (on your local machine or your modem if it’s not locked down) completely dumpsters this strategy.
From memory torrent websites were blocked and some rom / game piracy sites.
Link post about this thing an hour earlier - 10 upvotes. Picture with the same news one hour later - 10x more. Average Lemmy user is no longer distinguishable from a Reddit user :(
What are you complaining about here exactly?
I’m complaining about the state of things.
Or maybe using the payment processor’s TOS allows them to remove pervy Ai horseshit without having to mod their own TOS. Slam dunk, frankly:
