@michelmaks
phd student at uic. they/them. queer game studies, crip theory, digital media, decoloniality, intersectionality & interdisciplinarity. avatar ID: a mirror selfie of a vaguely masc person in a floral shirt banner ID: hand-holding photos (also paws)
Among many things happening all at once, I continue seeing queer and/or erotica artists being kicked off platforms due to payment processor pressure. Games, books, illustrations, everything is under attack even more so than it was before.
Digital graphic with the text "anti-censorship campaign" and screenshots of headlines about how multiple storefronts have removed NSFW content due to pressure from payment processors and Collective Shout.
I know we're upset about itch, but they're not the only ones
Payment processors harassed companies bc of a 1,000 email hate campaign
But we can EASILY top 1,000!
I prewrote an email + got the contact info - you just have to send!
↻💬♡ to boost
We CAN make a difference 💕
#itch #censorship
1/🧵
Complaint Letter Template Customer Complaint Dept, This message is to lodge an official complaint about the ongoing rampant restrictions your company has placed on legal sales made by legitimate businesses. These restrictions are not only counter to the concept of freedom of speech and expression, but they harm consumers, businesses, and they harm your company’s bottom line. The following actions are absolutely necessary to protect the freedoms of your client base and the sustainability of legitimate business practices: Remove from your Terms of Service any mention barring the use of your service for sale and purchase of legal products. Contact Steam (Valve), Itch.io, and any other company you have previously put pressure on to retract your content restrictions. Put in place protections to prevent such restrictions from being put in place in the future without ample warning and time to contest them. If these changes aren't made then I, along with many others will be forced to seek other options for processing payments. Sincerely, A Concerned Customer.
Contact Information Mastsercard Phone (US): 1-800-627-8372 Phone (outside US): 1-636-722-7111 Online Form Submission Visa Phone (US): 1-800-847-2911 Click Here For Non-US Numbers Online Form Submission Paypal Phone (US): 1-888-221-1161 Phone (outside US): 1-402-935-2050 Hours: 6am - 6pm PT Online Form Submission (UK site is linked as you’re able to submit a complaint without an account).
Complaint letter! You can copy/paste or edit
You can use the same info for a call!
Paypal:
Phone (US): 1-888-221-1161
Phone (outside US): 1-402-935-2050
Hours: 6am - 6pm PT
Online (for non-users or logged out - UK bc US site ONLY allows logged in users): www.paypal.com/uk/cshelp/co...
2/🧵
NITW gonna get delisted from search results due to being "too full of that slutty bear with the hat who can't stop staring at me and then ignoring me, like not in the game i mean irl Im speaking to the gay temptation bear and he's not talking back like hes too good for me" and also too socialist
Here's a resource to tell payment processors to stop censoring queer art and sex work. Includes phone numbers, emails, petitions, some extra tips for Australians. Please tell them to keep their hands off queers 🏳️⚧️
yellat.money
HELLO COMRADES
Could anyone affected by Itch removing items please send any evidence they may have to myself? I am filing a report with the Australian Consumer Commission, as I have reason to believe that Itch removing access may be a violation of Australian Consumers rights!
Drop em below or DM!!
Supported ACLU a bit as this feels like the most immediate efficient thing I can do. Will look into it more tomorrow.
a polka dot background with text on it that says: Trans Joy Jam
Trans Joy Jam has wrapped with over 40 new works of fiction (short stories and games) celebrating trans joy brought into the world! Thank you everyone who entered and shared the jam around 💖
Check out all of the entries here: itch.io/jam/trans-jo...
I don’t agree with the folks saying “lay off Itch they’re just smol beans trying their best” but I do absolutely believe the focus should be on giving payment processors and shitty right wing swerf n terf groups so much fucking hell they can’t function for the next month or six.
With limited information that I gleaned, I believe the blame firstly lies with the group Collective Shout and with the the payment processors. That said, itch's response has been dogwater so far.
leafo could've just fucking posted in the discord "this was not our call, statement coming shortly" but no, he had to fucking hit that "haha o7" in response to you bending the knee to puritan censorship, directly leading to people losing their ability to make money off of their work. shame on yall.
🚨🚨🚨 BREAKING: In a dangerous evening escalation of the anti-porn war on the gaming industry, indie platform @itch.io has banned a number of NSFW titles and delisted thousands of others.
Trans authors are caught in the crossfire.
MasterCard, Visa, and anti-porn group Collective Shout drove the ban.
Under what criteria and reasoning have pages been and will be removed? As the process is ongoing, artists need a chance to protect their art from removal and audiences — to archive stories that could be lost.
Brazil rallies to defend much-loved payment system from Donald Trump’s attack
To connect the recent Steam and Itch situation to another ongoing bit of news: Visa and Mastercard (and other US companies like PayPal, Stripe, and Meta) clearly believe they are entitled to dictate how people spend money not just through their services, but anywhere at all
archive.ph/jigm3
more than ever, games media and bloggers should write and report on queer indie games. we need more attention than ever.
itch.io banning nsfw/adult terms from its searches with absolutely no warning is a good reminder that the people who make the porn games are ALWAYS more on your side than payment processors and corporations. always. you don’t have to like the games they make, but you do have to stand on their side.
* Complain en masse to PayPal, MasterCard, Visa, etc
* Loudly and openly blame specific payment processors on social media
* Flood the replies of Visa, MasterCard’s posts
Some starting points on how to organize against payment processor censorship (in the US):
* Contact your local politicians
* Contact the ACLU & other free speech orgs
* Send tips to reporters abt this issue
* Create infographs and spread the word
* Get the word out via TikTok shorts, YouTube videos
so itchio has shadowbanned any games tagged with 'nsfw', 'adult', or 'erotic' so they don't show up in searches, and several devs have reported that their r18 games have been removed from the site with no warning
Also worth noting: Jenny Jiao Hsia's autobiographical opus Consume Me, which won the Grand Prize at this year's Independent Games Festival along with a few other awards, is also delisted in itch search (but also has a searchable Steam listing)
Can confirm that most of the works by @radiatoryang.bsky.social, as well as my own card game (but not the extras, ironically) no longer show up in itch.io search results, much like anything else tagged NSFW, it seems. Good enough art for museums... But not payment processors!
itch.io/search?q=Rob...
Carefully watching the situation with payment processors and itch dot io unfold. Very anxious. This continuous attack on queerness and sexuality is the last thing we need with how deeply messed up everything already is.
I did. Next thing you know I'll spend 2 hours staring at books at the local bcookstore.
Just had reason to use "This is the skin of a killer, Bella" in Teams chat so I think my work today is done.
are we talking medical doctor or doctor of philosophy
