This whole attempted censorship of adult games on gaming platforms is becoming a thing. Collective Shout—a group out of Australia that wraps itself in a feminist flag while behaving like the religi…
Our payment network follows standards based on the rule of law. Put simply, we allow all lawful purchases on our network. At the same time, we require merchants to have appropriate controls to ensure Mastercard cards cannot be used for unlawful purchases, including illegal adult content.
A store named “use these toys on fake dolls of children” is horribly distasteful but not illegal.
I can agree that maybe that type of content shouldn’t be sold, but I also understand that’s my personal opinion and not necessarily the law. Me, you or Visa or Mastercard should not be in a position to dictate whether it’s acceptable to sell such content.
EVEN IF a store was named “use these toys on fake dolls of children” (because this name would likely not even pass local laws but let’s put that aside), the store can sell cookies and take MasterCard.
I’m going to play devil’s advocate since the OOP is doing a terrible job of arguing their point.
If my brick and mortar store sold incest books, MasterCard could say, “We don’t like how you sell this one book or category of books.”
Like…fine. In which case they are being anticompetitive. The books aren’t illegal. Distasteful, perhaps, but you don’t see me complaining to MasterCard for processing bakery transactions, just because I hate gluten.
The article addresses the topic of how quickly the banning of this kind of material can get out of hand:
These are, it seems, the same people going on book-banning crusades that ensare such smut as Calvin & Hobbes comics.
Magic Tree House author Mary Pope Osborne, children’s poet Shel Silverstein and Calvin and Hobbes cartoonist Bill Watterson have joined Judy Blume, Sarah J. Maas, Eric Carle and Kurt Vonnegut on a mind-boggling list of hundreds of books purged from some Tennessee school libraries.
The removals are the result of a growing political movement to control information through book banning. In 2024, the state legislature amended the “Age-Appropriate Materials Act of 2022” to specify that any materials that “in whole or in part” contain any “nudity, or descriptions or depictions of sexual excitement, sexual conduct, excess violence, or sadomasochistic abuse” are inappropriate for all students and do not belong in a school library. This change means books are not evaluated as a whole, and excerpts can be considered without context, if they have any content that is deemed to cross these lines. This leaves no room for educators and librarians to curate collections that reflect the real world and serve the educational needs of today’s students.
Themes like “incest” and “rape” were pulled from Steam.
While distasteful to most, these are not illegal in pornography (local laws may differ). Hell, even snuff films are legal as long as they’re simulated (and not real video of actual murder). However, because of payment processors mainstream porn sites won’t host them.
For the most part films of illegal stuff happening are very much legal (no matter whether “simulated” or real), and it might even be legal selling them provided you have the correct rights to them.
Okay, but If the sex toy store was named “use these toys on fake dolls of children”, then MasterCard likely wouldnt do business there either.
You are aware of what type of content was being targeted here right?
Which would contradict their statement:
A store named “use these toys on fake dolls of children” is horribly distasteful but not illegal.
I can agree that maybe that type of content shouldn’t be sold, but I also understand that’s my personal opinion and not necessarily the law. Me, you or Visa or Mastercard should not be in a position to dictate whether it’s acceptable to sell such content.
EVEN IF a store was named “use these toys on fake dolls of children” (because this name would likely not even pass local laws but let’s put that aside), the store can sell cookies and take MasterCard.
I’m going to play devil’s advocate since the OOP is doing a terrible job of arguing their point.
If my brick and mortar store sold incest books, MasterCard could say, “We don’t like how you sell this one book or category of books.”
Like…fine. In which case they are being anticompetitive. The books aren’t illegal. Distasteful, perhaps, but you don’t see me complaining to MasterCard for processing bakery transactions, just because I hate gluten.
The article addresses the topic of how quickly the banning of this kind of material can get out of hand:
Themes like “incest” and “rape” were pulled from Steam.
While distasteful to most, these are not illegal in pornography (local laws may differ). Hell, even snuff films are legal as long as they’re simulated (and not real video of actual murder). However, because of payment processors mainstream porn sites won’t host them.
For the most part films of illegal stuff happening are very much legal (no matter whether “simulated” or real), and it might even be legal selling them provided you have the correct rights to them.
Not their business what I do with my own money.
Their business is letting me spend my money in ways I see fut for my budget.