Originally posted by Dragon Dawn:

Dear Visa, MasterCard, Steam, Itch.io, and Collective Shout,

I am writing to express my deep concern about the growing role payment processors and platforms play in restricting what people can legally buy, sell, and create.

Visa and MasterCard collectively process over 80% of all global card payments, creating a near-duopoly that allows them to dictate which lawful industries survive — and which are silenced.¹

This power has already been misused to impose moral gatekeeping on entire communities. In 2021, OnlyFans announced it would ban adult content after pressure from payment processors. It reversed this ban only after massive public backlash made clear that millions of livelihoods were at stake.²

Meanwhile, these same processors allow billions of dollars to flow into industries with far greater social impact. The U.S. gun industry alone generates over $70 billion annually,³ and the global arms trade is estimated at $112 billion per year.⁴ Yet when it comes to consenting adults creating or consuming art, stories, or entertainment that some deem “controversial,” payment companies suddenly claim a moral high ground.

This selective morality is deeply inconsistent. Groups like Collective Shout claim to protect women and children while ignoring mainstream productions — like Cuties — that sparked genuine concerns about the sexualization of minors, yet they attack independent creators for far less.⁵

Worse, restricting access to safe, consensual adult content does not protect anyone — it puts people at greater risk. Research shows that when adults have access to legal outlets for sexual expression, rates of sexual violence do not increase — they often decline. A comprehensive study published in the Journal of Sex Research found that as access to pornography expanded in Japan, Denmark, and the U.S., rates of rape dropped significantly.⁶ A meta-analysis in Archives of Sexual Behavior concluded there is no causal link between pornography consumption and sexual aggression — and suggested access to legal adult content may actually help prevent some sex crimes by providing safer outlets for sexual desires.⁷

It is also worth remembering that the Internet and digital marketplaces have included clear age restrictions for decades. Major platforms like Steam, Google, and Microsoft require users to be at least 13 years old to create an account — a standard rooted in the U.S. Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA, 1998), which forbids collecting personal information from children under 13 without parental consent.⁸ ⁹ ¹⁰ Steam’s Subscriber Agreement has always required users to be at least 13.¹¹ Payment accounts backed by Visa and MasterCard are likewise legally available only to adults or to minors with explicit parental oversight.

These safeguards — combined with parental controls, age verification, and community moderation — are the proper tools for protecting children. Payment processors stepping in to override these measures and censor legal adult content does not protect minors; it only undermines individual freedoms and destroys livelihoods.

Payment processors should process payments — not police ideas, art, or expression. This moral gatekeeping harms creators, restricts free choice, and fails to protect anyone. I urge you to protect the rights and livelihoods of millions who rely on you to make a living — and to stop bowing to groups whose beliefs are inconsistent, unverified, and harmful in practice.

Sincerely,
DragonDawn

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✅ References

¹ The Nilson Report, 2023 — Global card market share statistics.
https://nilsonreport.com/

² OnlyFans: Adult content ban reversed after backlash, BBC, 2021 —
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-58330228

³ US Gun & Ammunition Stores Industry Report, IBISWorld, 2023 —
https://www.ibisworld.com/united-states/market-research-reports/gun-ammunition-stores-industry/

⁴ SIPRI Arms Transfers Database, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, 2023 —
https://sipri.org/databases/armstransfers

⁵ Cuties controversy explained, The Guardian, 2020 —
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2020/sep/10/cuties-netflix-movie-controversy-explained

⁶ Diamond, M., Poulin, R., & Houth, P. (2009). Pornography and Sex Crimes in the USA. Journal of Sex Research —
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00224490903075838

⁷ Ferguson, C.J., & Hartley, R.D. (2020). Pornography and sexual aggression: Can meta-analysis find a link? Archives of Sexual Behavior —
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10508-020-01717-2

⁸ Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), U.S. Federal Trade Commission —
https://www.ftc.gov/legal-library/browse/rules/childrens-online-privacy-protection-rule-coppa

⁹ Google Terms of Service — Minimum age requirement of 13 —
https://policies.google.com/terms

¹⁰ Microsoft Services Agreement — Minimum age requirement of 13 —
https://www.microsoft.com/en/servicesagreement

¹¹ Steam Subscriber Agreement — Requires users to be 13 or older —
https://steamhost.cn/subscriber_agreement/

Originally posted by TBS AlexDK:

I'm sorry to say it, but Steam, Itch.io and any other store has no say in the matter, cause if they don't follow the rules Visa and Mastercard make, then they might as well just close the doors, as they will not be able to earn any money.

Also Visa and Mastercard does not read any post on here, and what you should really be doing, is partition your politicians to do something about it.

Originally posted by Hikari.ws:

But the real issue that ppl had been ignoring is much more dire. Steam started accepting porn games, ok that was great, they weren't forced to. But they never made a clear rule on what to accept and what not. Many games that publishers wanted to publish on Steam were refused, and a handful games that were released were then removed.

It's very harmful for a softhouse or publisher to expect the by far biggest games store to list their game, to then after making the investment have it denied.

This has been going for years, this event now is just an aggravation.

And this happens while there are games gladly being sold which leave EA unfinished with no warning on store page. There are games knownly broken, whose softhouse provide no support and remains silent. If u buy any of these games and don't play them in 2 weeks to notice and ask refund, u're done.

The real issue is that Valve don't care for softhouses/publishers and much less for customers. And are u complain about Steam's lack of security.


I'd say more. You say it's an open letter to these companies, then u say they shouldn't be allowed to do what they're doing.

They don't care for our age. They don't even care for profit in these situations. They rather use their power to rule than to profit.

Their target is the creators and publishers of those content. They want them bankrupted, punished for daring to create a content they don't like. And scare other creators for creating more and having the same fate.

Originally posted by Hikari.ws:

But the real issue that ppl had been ignoring is much more dire. Steam started accepting porn games, ok that was great, they weren't forced to. But they never made a clear rule on what to accept and what not. Many games that publishers wanted to publish on Steam were refused, and a handful games that were released were then removed.

Originally posted by Hikari.ws:

It's very harmful for a softhouse or publisher to expect the by far biggest games store to list their game, to then after making the investment have it denied.

Originally posted by Hikari.ws:

And this happens while there are games gladly being sold which leave EA unfinished with no warning on store page.

Originally posted by Hikari.ws:

There are games knownly broken, whose softhouse provide no support and remains silent. If u buy any of these games and don't play them in 2 weeks to notice and ask refund, u're done.

Originally posted by Dragon Dawn:

The point of the matter is that the payment processors, Visa and MasterCard bowed to an interest group

Originally posted by Dragon Dawn:

Meanwhile, these same processors allow billions of dollars to flow into industries with far greater social impact. The U.S. gun industry alone generates over $70 billion annually,³ and the global arms trade is estimated at $112 billion per year.⁴ Yet when it comes to consenting adults creating or consuming art, stories, or entertainment that some deem “controversial,” payment companies suddenly claim a moral high ground.

Originally posted by Hikari.ws:

Visa and Mastercard are above nations and laws, they rule whole world's payment system.

Even if some USA politicians would propose a law that's against their wish, they'd lobby against him and the law wouldn't be created.