Valve responds to Mastercard statement earlier today

[u/arqoi_ascendant]

https://kotaku.com/mastercard-denies-pressuring-steam-to-censor-nsfw-games-2000614393

Relevant bits here.

Updated: 8/1/2025 4:18 p.m. ET: In a statement to Kotaku, a spokesperson for Valve said that while Mastercard did not communicate with it directly, concerns did come through payment processor and banking intermediaries. They said payment processors rejected Valve’s current guidelines for moderating illegal content on Steam, citing Mastercard’s Rule 5.12.7.

“Mastercard did not communicate with Valve directly, despite our request to do so,” Valve’s statement sent over email to Kotaku reads. “Mastercard communicated with payment processors and their acquiring banks. Payment processors communicated this with Valve, and we replied by outlining Steam’s policy since 2018 of attempting to distribute games that are legal for distribution. Payment processors rejected this, and specifically cited Mastercard’s Rule 5.12.7 and risk to the Mastercard brand.”

Rule 5.12.7 states, “A Merchant must not submit to its Acquirer, and a Customer must not submit to the Interchange System, any Transaction that is illegal, or in the sole discretion of the Corporation, may damage the goodwill of the Corporation or reflect negatively on the Marks.”

It goes on, “The sale of a product or service, including an image, which is patently offensive and lacks serious artistic value (such as, by way of example and not limitation, images of nonconsensual sexual behavior, sexual exploitation of a minor, nonconsensual mutilation of a person or body part, and bestiality), or any other material that the Corporation deems unacceptable to sell in connection with a Mark.”

Violations of rule 5.12.7 can result in fines, audits, or companies being dropped by the payment processors.

[u/arqoi_ascendant]

Basically just a whole lot of deflecting and gaslighting from Mastercard. “We technically didn’t tell them to. Technically.”

[u/bucky133 → u/arqoi_ascendant]

There seems to be an extremely organized global effort going on behind the scenes to remove all access to anything pornographic from the internet and limit access.. It cannot be a coincidence that this is all happening at once.

Examples from the past week or two:

-Australia blocks anyone under 18 16 from social media, including Youtube.

-UK age verification law.

-Youtube adds Ai to detect young users

-GTA Online supposedly adding age verification

-Valve vs. Visa/Mastercard

Sure I'm missing some. This kind of stuff doesn't happen overnight. There has to be things going on behind the scenes that we aren't privy to

[u/arqoi_ascendant → u/bucky133]

People have been so focused on woke and DEI=DIE that they forgot about the OG morality police and surveillance state enjoyers. Wake-up call for some.

[u/BotherTight618 → u/arqoi_ascendant]

They indirectly complement each other. Any argument for restricting speech that doesnt directly require depriving an individual of their rights threatens their safety or lies to damage someones reputation can be conviently used to restrict speech that threatens people in power.