The digital landscape is currently experiencing significant disruption as payment processors increasingly impose restrictions on various forms of content, leading to widespread frustration among developers, creators, and even impacting general consumers. This escalating situation highlights a concerning trend of financial institutions dictating what kind of legal content can be supported, raising questions about censorship, economic discrimination, and the fundamental rights of creators.
One of the most prominent examples of this issue involves a developer whose £80,000 in funds was allegedly withheld by PayPal. The developer's "crime" was their involvement in programming a legal adult game, which PayPal deemed a violation of their terms and conditions, specifically their rule against "transactions for digital adult content". This incident is not isolated; PayPal has a history of limiting accounts for creators involved with adult content on platforms like Patreon, often withholding payments until complaints gain significant public attention, sometimes requiring intervention from media outlets like Business Insider to resolve issues and recover funds, as seen in a case involving $90,000.
The ramifications extend beyond individual creators. The entire gaming platform Steam has faced significant pressure from payment processors. In one instance, Steam confirmed in July that PayPal's acquiring bank, the entity responsible for processing payments, imposed a new rule. This rule drastically limited the currencies accepted for Steam transactions to only British Pounds, Canadian Dollars, Australian Dollars, American Dollars, and Japanese Yen, effectively punishing anyone trying to buy products on Steam via PayPal for reasons "regarding content in Steam related to what we've previously commented on surrounding Mastercard". This indicates a broader issue where payment processors' aversion to legal adult content impacts a wide range of transactions.
Furthermore, Steam has been denying early access to adult games for developers. Despite developers spending weeks in review, this limitation was not initially disclosed, leading to developers being locked out from launching store pages, generating followers, and building wishlists—crucial aspects of game development and marketing. This policy appears inconsistent, with some adult content games being released in early access even after reported denials in 2024, while Steam's public review process page hasn't changed since April 2019. This lack of transparency and consistent application of rules creates significant instability for developers who rely on early access as a vital funding mechanism for their projects.
The pressure on payment processors often originates from groups like Collective Shout, who object to what they broadly define as "exploitation media," regardless of its legality. Their actions are based on "personal morals and distaste" that they attempt to impose on a wider audience.
In response to these escalating issues, public pressure is mounting on governments in several countries. In the United Kingdom, over 7,500 people have signed a government petition demanding protection for legal content from payment processor bans, with 10,000 signatures guaranteeing a government statement. Australia's Parliament is facing a petition for antitrust investigations on similar grounds, which has garnered over 6,000 signatures, making it the second most active petition in the country. Canada has a petition with 11,000 signatures requesting transparency, better creator rights, and an end to financial discrimination by payment platforms. These petitions, at a minimum, force recorded government responses, highlighting the growing concern that payment processors may be operating "above the law" by restricting legal content.
The sentiment among many is that while these are private businesses, their role in facilitating financial transactions makes them akin to public utilities, warranting a different level of scrutiny and regulation. As former Japanese assemblyman Zeno Kurashita articulated, the subtle nature of this threat means "most people don't perceive how serious a threat this is, and the companies are exploiting that lack of awareness to maintain their power". The core argument is that the rights of all creators, even those producing content others may not personally like, are interconnected, and the erosion of these rights for some ultimately impacts everyone. The concern is that payment processors, driven by short-term risk aversion and PR considerations rather than legality, are making decisions "without a thought for the artistic consequences, without a thought for the impact on customers, without a thought for the impact on society, on culture and in the future" .
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