Mastercard and Visa Under Fire As Petition For Payment Giants To 'Not Police' Legal Content Blows Up | IBTimes UK
The petition addressed that MasterCard and Visa must stop censoring legal fictional content that complies with the law and platform standards.
ibtimes.co.uk
TL;DR: An online petition is calling out Mastercard and Visa for “policing” legal adult-oriented fictional content after pressure from Australian activist group Collective Shout, which has lobbied payment platforms to block games depicting rape, incest and other themes. Petitioners argue it’s hypocritical to censor lawful books, films and games while turning a blind eye to real-world abuse, and demand transparency, a fair appeals process and respect for adults’ content choices.
The backstory: Collective Shout—known for pressuring Steam to yank hundreds of “explicit” titles and even challenging LGBTQ+-themed games—has pushed major card networks to cut off payments for controversial content. Their campaign even spurred media takedowns at outlets like Vice, prompting reporters to walk out. Critics like YouTuber Cr1TiKaL accuse the group of moral overreach, but so far Mastercard and Visa haven’t weighed in.
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