Hey John,

Just wanted to make sure you saw the news about payment processors censoring games on Steam and Itch.io. If you’ve already taken action below, thank you! Here are two more quick ways you can help:

1. Check out our AMA (‘Ask Me Anything’) on the r/pcgaming subreddit this Monday, August 18th starting at 10 AM Eastern Time.
   Experts from Fight, the ACLU, and more will be answering questions about this most recent bout of financial censorship and sharing insights from groups who have been fighting back for years. We'd love to see you in the comments!

2. Donate to stop financial censorship.
   We’re demanding payment processors like Visa and Mastercard stop policing who can play what games and calling on Congress to investigate them. If we’re going to stop these massive companies from censoring indie games and platforms, we need to stand a chance against their spending power. Can you pitch in even $10 today to stop financial censorship?

STOP FINANCIAL CENSORSHIP

In solidarity,
Caitlin at Fight

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 sex workers 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