Collective Shout
Collective Shout is an Australian activist group founded in 2009, claiming to be: "a grassroots movement challenging the objectification of women and sexualisation of girls in media, advertising and popular culture".[1]
| Basic information | |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2009 |
| Legal structure | Private |
| Industry | Lobbying, Activism |
| Official website | https://www.collectiveshout.org/ |
The activist group became prominent in 2025 after their pressure campaign against payment processors to cause Steam and Itch.io to delist hundreds of games, claiming that the games sexualise women.[2]
Incidents edit
Protest against Grand Theft Auto V edit
In 2014, the group protested the game Grand Theft Auto V, claiming that the game encouraged players to murder women for entertainment.[3] The game was later banned from Australian stores that year.[4]
Pressure campaign against payment processors edit
Main artice: Valve complying with ISPs and payment processors
In July 2025, Collective Shout launched a public campaign "demanding credit card companies and PayPal block payments" for games on sites like Steam and Itch.io.[5][3]
Itch.io responded by de-indexing NSFW content on July 24.[6] Itch.io re-indexed free NSFW content on July 31.[7]
They claim to have lobbied payment processors after sending 3,000 emails to Steam and receiving no response.[8][9]
Alongside NSFW content they also wanted to get games like 'Detroit Become Human' and 'Mouthwashing' gone from the gaming platforms. Mainly for 'violence against women', which in the case of 'Detroit Become Human' was to show how horrible domestic abuse actually is for the people in the situation and to bring awareness to that happening in our society.
See also edit
References edit
- ↑ "Collective Shout". Collective Shout. Archived from the original on 2025-07-20. Retrieved 2025-08-07.
- ↑ Taylor, Josh (2025-07-28). "Mastercard and Visa face backlash after hundreds of adult games removed from online stores Steam and Itch.io". The Guardian.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Evans-Thirlwell, Edwin (22 July 2025). "Anti-porn group who tried to ban GTA 5 claim credit for Steam's sex game crackdown". Rock Paper Shotgun. Retrieved 23 July 2025.
- ↑ "'Sexually violent' GTA 5 banned from Australian stores". BBC. 2014-12-04.
- ↑ Bita, Natasha (15 July 2025). "Child safety group finds 500 online 'games' role-playing rape and incest". The Australian. Archived from the original on 18 July 2025. Retrieved 18 July 2025.
- ↑ "Update on NSFW content". Itch.io. 2025-07-24.
- ↑ "Reindexing adult NSFW content". Itch.io. 2025-07-31.
- ↑ "Steam at Collective Shout". Collective Shout. Archived from the original on 2025-07-20. Retrieved 2025-08-07.
- ↑ Ore, Jonathan (31 July 2025). "How an anti-porn lobby on payment processors censored thousands of video games". CBC. Retrieved 1 August 2025.