How to contact Visa and Mastercard if you want to protest censorship of games on Steam and itch.io

If you were not aware, there is an ongoing crisis in the sale of digital video games. Two of the top digital storefronts, Steam and itch.io, have either removed or delisted games that can be considered NSFW, thanks to pressure from payment processors like Visa and Mastercard. This situation began with an open letter from the organization Collective Shout, asking payment processors to “cease processing payments on gaming platforms which host” certain NSFW content. Even if Collective Shout didn’t mean for their actions to leave such an impact, the problem is now widespread, with some games that don’t even fall under these categories, like LGBTQ-friendly games, being removed. Thankfully, there is action you can take to work towards changing all of this.

How to contact Visa and MasterCard so you can politely encourage them to change their policies

The entire situation began with Collective Shout’s open letter. If their public outcry can be heard by companies like Visa and Mastercard, so can ours. Thanks to some users on Reddit, we have U.S. phone numbers for Visa and Mastercard, plus an option to send an email for anyone too nervous to talk on the phone:

• Mastercard Consumer Support: 1-800-627-8372 / Email Support here.
• Visa Customer Service: 1-800-847-2911 / Email Support here.

But as one user points out in another Reddit post, remember to be polite. These phone calls and emails are not going directly to the top of Visa or Mastercard. These calls and emails are being fielded by overworked employees who are likely paid minimum wage. Being cordial and polite will go a long way, and being the opposite will only hurt the cause. The last thing we want is Visa or Mastercard excusing their crusade as standing up to rude and aggressive gamers.

A few days ago, one user got an email response from Visa, which shared some insight into Visa’s perspective. On the one hand, it sounded positive: “As a global company, we follow the laws and regulations everywhere we do business. While we explicitly prohibit illegal activity on our network, we are equally committed to protecting legal commerce. If a transaction is legal, our policy is to process the transaction.” Adding, “We do not make moral judgements on legal purchases made by consumers.”

This all sounds great; perhaps Visa is heading down the right path. But then, they continue, explaining what appears to be the root of the problem: “When a legally operating merchant faces an elevated risk of illegal activity, we require enhanced safeguards for the banks supporting those merchants.” These “enhanced safeguards” sound like what might have caused Steam and itch.io to make the decisions they did. Reddit users were quick to call this “the biggest gaslighting I’ve ever seen.”

I highly recommend calling/emailing Visa and Mastercard, but there is also a Change.org petition you can sign. At the time of writing, the petition already has well over 200,000 signatures. The American Civil Liberties Union, or ACLU, also has an ongoing petition calling on Mastercard to end its unjust policy. This petition, at the time of writing, is nearly 40,000 signatures away from its goal of 200,000.

I have shared many U.S.-based resources in this article, but remember that this is a global issue. These are international companies that are impacting everyone around the world.

You may think, “I don’t really care about the games that are being removed.” But there’s no reason to think that the censorship will stop here. Should it be organizations like Collective Shout and payment processors like Visa and Mastercard deciding where the line is drawn? They are taking our video games. Don’t let them do it without a fight.

• Steam
• indie games
• the video games industry
• opponents of video games