Hi, I am a lurker who played mostly SFW games on Itch, though I have no problem with adult content in general.

I've been following the recent happenings and from my understanding, this is linked to an organisation that is funded by right-wing establishments. They are pressuring payment processors by calling them over 1000 times a day, and there are other shady tactics. 

This organisation is actually quite bigoted towards certain minority groups (I am part of these groups). There is a huge political context behind this that I won't get to.

The thing is that they are doing the same lobbying that happened in the 90s and 2000s. It's a push to ban violent and sexual content in media, presented as a means to protect the general population, but it all boils down to censorship of artistic expression.

Back then there were multiple controversies worldwide about these sorts of things - here in Brazil, the government had tried to ban several works (including video games), due to 'objectionable subject matter'. Players from Germany, Australia and the US can attest to similar events happening in their country, and there are other places that did the same. 

These organisations and politicians are not just looking to ban erotic content with 'unpleasant' themes, or restrict the depiction of violence and gore. They want to ban everything they deem unacceptable, but this is up to their standards, not the ones of the consumer.

This is not new. Back in the early 2000s, there were many websites that shut down because payment processors came up with a policy banning adult creators. A famous example of this was the closure of Jennicam, a website in which an adult woman livestreamed her daily life, including sexual moments. She did this consensually and without breaking any laws.

Anyways, even if you don't care about erotic media, these lobbyists will come for popular games too - just like they did in the past. They want to prevent the release of GTA VI and other titles.

These people don't care about us.

Storefronts are pandering and complying with demands because they have no other choice, as the payment processors are pressuring them.

However, this is a severe violation on our rights as customers and sellers. Itch.io deleted games with no warning. Many indie developers have no means of income now, and buyers are left without the products they paid for. 

I also read that they already removed safe for work titles that had LGBT+ themes, and this is incredibly unfortunate and even prejudiced.

As human beings, we should have access to art, and no company should decide what is right or wrong for us to consume, because we are able to make informed decisions ourselves. If you don't like something, you don't have to buy it. 

So, if you care about this, inform others about what's going on, there might be something we can do to revert these situations.

I hope everyone here is well, and thanks for reading.

Sorry, I accidentally posted this twice because I thought they would not approve my post.

Hey guys, check this site out, they list some things that you can do to change this situation:

https://anti-censorship-campaign.carrd.co/

I found more helpful links: 

https://stop-paypros.neocities.org/

https://yellat.money/

Call payment processors and take as much time as possible (this is the solution)

The reason phone call complaints are effective with these payment processor companies is because it takes up valuable time that the company could be otherwise dealing with other issues. Phone support is expensive and slow, which makes it an ideal pressure point A large public outcry is what causes companies to pay attention and consider backtracking.

Make a script about why this is bad (payment processor companies shouldn't be censoring legal material because they personally think it's immoral and it's an attack on free speech - you can ask AI to create a script for you if you don't have to time to write a long message) then call VISA/MasterCard/STRIPE/Paypal, you'll be on hold for a while because everyone is calling, and say you'd like to lodge a complaint. Then when they ask what this is in regards to, just start reading your script. Sometimes the rep will try to cut you off once they find out what the complaint is about, but just ask whether or not phone call complaints are reported, if they say yes, then say you want your call to be reported and heard and then read your script. If they say no, that's really weird and just keep insisting and eventually they will try to transfer you to a supervisor or something. The longer the message the better since that's the point. We essentially have to keep this up for the next few weeks if we want something to happen. We don’t need to be aggressive - just persistent. Keep the pressure on and call every few days, or every day if you care about this issue.

The following link has all the contact information you need to call them:

https://10kphonecalls.com/

UH....

HOW ITCH.OI NEW OR OLD?