Itch.io is shadowbanning or deleting NSFW and LGBTQ content

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From their site: "Collective Shout is a grassroots campaigns movement against the objectification of women and the sexualisation of girls." So technically a good cause, but they're going about it in entirely the wrong way, because (as people described Itch's actions) they're using a sledgehammer. They seem to want to remove all porn, even that made by fully consenting, not-exploited adults, and don't seem to be trying to educate people in how to not objectify women.

In one of those oxymoron moments they were okay with the documentary Cuties on netflix because it was being "ethically" about the subject

it's a horror game about crew of a transport spaceship stranded on an asteroid after a crash. The name comes from the fact their ship was transporting mouthwash and the crew is using it as alcohol.

TIL

 

[SteveC]

I wanted to comment about this for a couple of different reasons. The first is that I wanted to show support for creators who've been caught up in this and had products taken down. I've helped a number of creators who have used itch.io as a platform, but none of them have said their stuff has been removed. Still, I definitely hope people find a safe home for their products. It's an incredibly stressful time to have a part of your life just pulled away from you.

I also wanted to say that, unfortunately, this is nothing new. I was, some time ago, on the board of a 501(c)(3) organization that has nothing to do with gaming. I sat through several presentations by lawyers concerned about this issue who also had suggestions for dealing with it. There was a group that was going to be an entirely new processing system made for non-profits, and they talked about how amazingly difficult it was to break into that field. I believe them because they had support, but ultimately failed to launch.

There are solutions to this problem that can come from lobbying, writing laws, or working with different payment processing systems. None of those are easy to do, however. I don't want to really get into a discussion on the specifics of my experiences because they're all in areas that we don't talk about here and aren't gaming related. I just wanted to express sympathy to all the creators and say there are resources out there about all of this because it has happened before.

 

[MostlyHarmless42]

This entire thread is a prime example of the futility of maintaining a "no politics" rule here and expecting to be able to cover news and updates on the industry of TTRPGs. It's no cooincidence there have been multiple threads here related to increasingly obvious political related subjects. You may or may not wish to have anything to do with politics, but politics certainly wants to deal with you.

As fascism and religious fundamentalism only continue to gain a stronger chokehold on power you due to neoliberalism and corporate/capitalist influences fermenting an air of political apathy, remaining idle and apathetic towards politics will only become increasingly a tacit enabling of both. Religious extremists abhor art that isn't related to it's dogma and fascism is inherently both anti-art and incapable of creating it's own iconography: it can only steal and co-opt from others. You must take a stance and fight back or you letting them win.

 

[Some Dude]

This entire thread is a prime example of the futility of maintaining a "no politics" rule here and expecting to be able to cover news and updates on the industry of TTRPGs. It's no cooincidence there have been multiple threads here related to increasingly obvious political related subjects. You may or may not wish to have anything to do with politics, but politics certainly wants to deal with you.

As fascism and religious fundamentalism only continue to gain a stronger chokehold on power you due to neoliberalism and corporate/capitalist influences fermenting an air of political apathy, remaining idle and apathetic towards politics will only become increasingly a tacit enabling of both. Religious extremists abhor art that isn't related to it's dogma and fascism is inherently both anti-art and incapable of creating it's own iconography: it can only steal and co-opt from others. You must take a stance and fight back or you letting them win.

"We must take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim"

-Elie Wiesel

 

[Morrus]

This entire thread is a prime example of the futility of maintaining a "no politics" rule here and expecting to be able to cover news and updates on the industry of TTRPGs. It's no cooincidence there have been multiple threads here related to increasingly obvious political related subjects.

Take comments about moderation elsewhere, please.

 

[grankless]

Also, I don't recall if it's been posted yet: Protect Queer Creators and Sex Workers - Tell Payment Processors to STOP

Here's a website that's just a collection of customer service lines at which you can voice your displeasure with this disgusting overreach, censorship, and acquiescing to fascists. Paypal, Stripe, Mastercard, and Visa. Be polite, be firm, be clear with what you're talking about.

 

[Necropolitan]

If you want to contact the companies involved, make it clear you and as many other people as possible won't be using their services or that of companies connected to them because of your moral outrage at how this is affecting LGBTQ people. And let those other companies know as well.

Threatening a corporation's bottom line tends to be more effective than moral arguments, but using both can't hurt.

And make it clear you'll keep coming back day after day to voice your displeasure, otherwise they'll think it'll blow over.

 

[trappedslider]

Itch.io is 'actively reaching out to other payment processors' after pressure from credit card companies to curtail NSFW content, and that compared to Valve, it has 'limited ability to push back'

Clearing up the confusion.

www.pcgamer.com

Update on NSFW content

Update July 28th, 2025 : Addendum FAQ We have “deindexed” all adult NSFW content from our browse and search pages. We understand this action is sudden and disruptive, and we are truly sorry for th...

itch.io

Why was itch.io’s response greater than Steam’s?​

The difference in our responses stems from the difference in our platforms. Steam is a “closed” platform where every product page is approved before it appears on the store. Because they were generally aware of the content they host, they could identify and act on specific pages.

itch.io is an open, “UGC” (User-Generated Content) platform. With over 2 million product pages, anyone can publish content at any time with minimal barriers. We could not rely on user-provided tagging to be accurate enough for a targeted approach, so a broader review was necessary to be thorough.

Additionally, itch.io is a small company, both in team size and in transaction volume, compared to a company like Steam. We have limited ability to “push back.”

If we lose our ability to accept payments from a partner like PayPal or Stripe, we impact the ability of all creators to do business. Losing PayPal, for instance, would prevent us from sending payouts to many people. Our actions were taken to protect our payment processing abilities for as much of the platform as possible.

 

[Theory of Games]

I have been saying for a long time that the satanic panic never ended. Though it isn't starting with gaming this time, I figured it would eventually come back around.

As someone who survived (barely) the Satanic Panic, yeah, it ended. Thankfully.

 

[Mannahnin]

"The" Satanic Panic was a moral panic. One of many, of which some of today's share seeds and common elements of older ones.