dailynewsnblog
Earlier this month, crowdfunding platform Kickstarter altered its guidelines with regard to adult content. Where before it only prohibited “pornographic” and illegal content, it changed to be more restrictive and almost comically detailed, banning everything from “implied sex acts” to “MILF/DILF” content. Tuesday, the company reverted this change, saying—you guessed it—it was under pressure from its payment processor, Stripe.
People were not happy when the rules first changed. “I thought we had been making progress fighting against antiquated ideas that human sexuality is somehow shameful or evil, but nope,” wrote Reddit user literroy last Wednesday. On Bluesky, user 81632bitretro said, “Censorship by financial means. That’s what this is.”
If this all sounds familiar, it’s probably because gaming storefronts Steam and itch.io have both taken action against adult games due to pressure from payment processors. In the case of Kickstarter, it’s affecting users who already have a fundraising campaign underway.
“Over the past several months, we’ve seen a growing number of campaigns that had already been approved by Kickstarter get suspended by Stripe mid-funding,” said Kickstarter COO Sean Leow in a blog post. “When that happens, it’s devastating. A creator’s project can be frozen with funds in limbo, sometimes weeks into a campaign they’ve spent months, or even years, building.”
Leow noted the rules change was meant to “close the gap” between Stripe’s strict policies on adult content and Kickstarter’s slightly less strict policies, though conceded that the change “was an abandonment” of the crowdfunder’s, ahem, “counterculture, f*ck the establishment spirit.”
He continued, saying the reverted rule is “bare bones and not as specific as we’d like it to be … [but] it allows us to stand in what we believe in.” Notably, the payment processor can still suspend campaigns which have been approved by Kickstarter but run afoul of Stripe’s sensitivities, at which point the platform would have to advocate for its users directly.
Leow said Kickstarter has done that in the past and will continue to, but clarifies there will also continue to be cases “where our advocacy for creators wouldn’t result in the reversal of a suspension.”
“We could have done this better,” Leow said. “We’re going to keep working to earn back your trust, and we’ll keep creating the space that bold, boundary-pushing creative work deserves.”
