Players are trying to fight censorship on Steam. They form petition and look for solutions

Some time ago, due to changes in the regulations, many adult games disappeared from Steam. These changes were enforced by companies handling payment transactions, including banks and companies like Visa or Mastercard. Not long after, the organization Collective Shout took credit for causing the situation.

Many players clearly didn't like these changes, so they decided to take matters into their own hands. Many threads have been created on Reddit where internet users collectively ponder how to counteract the censorship of adult games. So far, their result is a petition that has already been created.

Petition against game censorship

An action has started on the change.org website under the slogan: "Tell MasterCard, Visa, and activist groups: stop controlling what we can watch, read, or play." At the time of writing this text, it has just over 27,000 verified signatures. Its founders made four main demands:

1. cessation of censoring legal fictional content that is in accordance with the law and platform standards;
2. rejection of influences from activist groups (such as Collective Shout);
3. being completely transparent about content restrictions and the reasons for their implementation;
4. protecting the rights of developers to make legal content for adults.

Attention was also drawn to examples of hypocrisy from Visa and Mastercard, which, on one hand, enforce the censorship of fictional content, and on the other hand, allow platforms like OnlyFans to operate without any obstacles.

The petition emphasized that adults should have the right to independently decide what they want to watch, read, or play. No one is forced to engage in content they find offensive, but they also have no right to impose their own limitations on others.

Also, some time after the petition was launched, it was reported as defamatory. As a result, its founder had to remove one of the posts with an update, so that signatures could continue to be collected. In the latest announcement, he conveyed that Collective Shout wants the petition to be removed.

Japan's move

By the way, it's worth mentioning that on July 22, the Japanese Federal Trade Commission slapped sanctions on Visa over suspicions of violating antitrust laws in its transaction terms with partners.

Some players hope that this is connected with the mentioned censorship of fictional content. Materials have even been created praising Japan's actions and calling for similar steps in the West. However, I didn't find any official sources confirming such a connection between the actions of the Japanese government and changes on Steam.

• Steam
• censorship
• Valve
• petitions