SFW lesbian games wrongly axed in online stores' overeaching 'adult content' purge

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2 days ago

Lesbian games are being hit hard in Itch.io and Steam's crackdown against NSFW content—regardless of whether the content is "adult" or not.
The Trans News Network says that multiple creators who had SFW "yuri" games (or games including any type of romantic relationship between two female characters) reported that their content had been delisted or removed from the platform. They also claimed that the existing payments owed to them had been frozen.
"I am concerned that my audience will be severely cut," developer ButterflyLatte, who reports having both NSFW and SFW yuri content deindexed from Itch, told TNN. "I'm already having to search for other places to release this particular game, and am worrying where I will be able to release future projects as well."
The issue started when a controversial Australian group called Collective Shout started targeting Steam and Itch, demanding they take down fictional games they didn't like. They did so while insisting these games promoted things like sexual violence against women, while ignoring the people pointing out that censorship of any fiction is a slippery slope.
Anyone who has been on the internet for more than a few years has likely seen this slippery slope in action. Tumblr, LiveJournal, and FanFiction.net are all examples of sites where suppressing NSFW led to a purge of SFW queer content, as well as content that hit on tough topics.
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And many, many, many people called out the near certainty that the same thing would happen with games, but were often told they were overreacting.
"If only someone had said 'they won't stop with porn'!" streamer Veronica Ripley snarked on bluesky.
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People had also pointed out that Collective Shout has ties to anti-LGBTQ groups.
There's somewhat of a debate as to the exact cause for the content being removed or deindexed. Itch has thrown the blame on payment processors, specifically citing PayPal and Stripe. This would somewhat fall in line with Collective Shout's previous crowing about pressuring MasterCard and Visa to try to get what they wanted with having specific games removed.
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Valve previously cited potential violation of the credit card companies' "rules and standards" as the reason why they delisted a number of games.
Gamers and free speech enthusiasts have launched a campaign of their own to pressure the payment processors out of, as they claim, trying to control the sale of legal goods.
In response, Mastercard issued a statement insisting they "allow all lawful purchases" but require merchants to ensure their cards "cannot be used for unlawful purchases, including illegal adult content."
Some types of fictional content may be illegal in other countries, but in the United States, fictional adult content is generally protected. And SFW LGBTQ+ content certainly wouldn't fall under that sort of ban.
So who's overreaching? When it comes to the protection of freedom of speech—and the existence of all queer content—pointing fingers isn't as important as fighting back against censorship. Even of things we may personally dislike.
This article originally appeared on Pride: SFW lesbian games wrongly axed in online stores' overeaching 'adult content' purge