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John,
I wanted to make sure you heard about how MasterCard and Visa are censoring content online, and give you an easy way to take action.
Two online gaming platforms - Steam and Itch.io - have given in to pressure from their payment processors, MasterCard and Visa, and removed content flagged by a conservative advocacy group as “inappropriate.”1 This is financial censorship, and we can’t let it stand. Sign the petition now to tell MasterCard and Visa to back off, and to call on lawmakers to investigate this action.
STOP FINANCIAL CENSORSHIP
Even if you don’t use Steam or Itch.io, you should be worried about what this means for the whole internet. Payment processors play a huge role in what and how we access content – and they cannot be the arbitrators of what is deemed “acceptable.” We don’t have to imagine what people and perspectives they will silence, because they already do - PayPal bans Palestinians from using its platform, and MasterCard’s policies make it near impossible for sexworkers to use.2,3
In this case, a conservative advocacy group flagged a bunch of games on Steam and Itch.io as “adult” – a term that is often applied broadly to LGBTQ+ content.4 If we don’t stop them, payment processors will gatekeep more and more content, stopping communities from connecting, sharing information, and creating online.
There has already been a ton of outrage over this situation, and MasterCard and Visa are trying to distance themselves from the outrage. We believe that if we keep up the pressure, they will back off. At the same time, this is clearly a First Amendment free speech issue, and Congress should intervene to gather information about what’s going on and to protect peoples’ rights to create, promote, and access content.
Take a moment to sign this petition, and we’ll also send it to your lawmakers to ask them to investigate this matter and help stop financial censorship.
Together,
Caitlin and the team at Fight for the Future
Footnotes:
1. The Verge: https://www.theverge.com/games/715299/itchio-games-delisting-payment-processor-paypal
2. 7amleh: https://p4p.7amleh.org
3. ACLU: https://www.aclu.org/news/lgbtq-rights/how-mastercard-is-endangering-sex-workers
4. Them: https://www.them.us/story/itch-io-steam-adult-video-game-ban-delisting-lgbtq
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