Financial censorship

2025-09-02T23:41:14Z

GeeseAreDeadly: Added wikipedia articles to 'payment processors' expanded the steam section, alongside a source. Also provided the same source for the itch section.

{{Stub}}

'''Financial censorship''' is the practice of major [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Payment_processor '''payment processors'''] refusing to process transactions for individuals or entities that do not align with their values. Although some banks and processors must comply with the law by avoiding known criminal activity, some institutions take a heavy-handed approach in this regard, leading to the censorship of legal adult content,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Reitman |first=Rainey |date=2012-02-29 |title=Legal Censorship: PayPal Makes a Habit of Deciding What Users Can Read |url=https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/02/legal-censorship-paypal-makes-habit-deciding-what-users-can-read |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250829181309/https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/02/legal-censorship-paypal-makes-habit-deciding-what-users-can-read |archive-date=2025-08-29 |access-date=2025-08-29 |website=Electronic Frontier Foundation}}</ref> medical marijuana advocacy,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Flitter |first=Emily |date=2018-08-22 |title=Wells Fargo closes bank account of candidate who supports marijuana |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2018/08/22/wells-fargo-closes-bank-account-of-candidate-who-supports-marijuana.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250829181619/https://www.cnbc.com/2018/08/22/wells-fargo-closes-bank-account-of-candidate-who-supports-marijuana.html |archive-date=2025-08-29 |access-date=2025-08-29 |website=CNBC}}</ref> and other incidents. Companies like PayPal have a long history of censorship; although, when major payment processors such as Visa and Mastercard censor individuals or business entities, they effectively ban those people from engaging in payment transactions at all. This is due to their dominant position in global finance with no widely-adopted alternative.

==Why it is a problem==

*This could allow payment processors to censor media they do not like, by refusing to process payments for that specific type of media.
*Very anti-consumer, not allowing you to purchase the legal media that you want.

==Notable incidents==
{{Incomplete section}}

===Steam===
''Main article:'' [[Valve allows ISPs and payment processors to censor content on Steam|Valve allows financial censorship of Steam games]]

In July 2025, [[Steam]], an online platform and digital marketplace for video games and related computer software and assets, added a new rule to their [https://partner.steamgames.com/doc/gettingstarted/onboarding#5 publishing guidelines] against "in particular, certain kinds of adult only content", and proceeded to withdraw hundreds of titles from sale on the platform.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Koselke |first=Anna |date=2025-07-18 |title=Valve confirms pressure from banks and card companies is to blame for the storefront axing adult Steam games: "Loss of payment methods would prevent customers from being able to purchase other titles" |url=https://www.gamesradar.com/games/valve-confirms-pressure-from-banks-and-card-companies-is-to-blame-for-the-storefront-axing-adult-steam-games-loss-of-payment-methods-would-prevent-customers-from-being-able-to-purchase-other-titles/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250726022008/https://www.gamesradar.com/games/valve-confirms-pressure-from-banks-and-card-companies-is-to-blame-for-the-storefront-axing-adult-steam-games-loss-of-payment-methods-would-prevent-customers-from-being-able-to-purchase-other-titles/ |archive-date=26 Jul 2025 |access-date=15 Aug 2025 |work=GamesRadar+ |quote=Judging by the information available on SteamDB, over 100 games have been marked as "retired" from Valve's storefront in just two days – many of which are titles with adult-only content.}}</ref> This was due to a demand from payment processors [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visa_Inc. '''Visa Inc.'''] and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mastercard '''Mastercard'''] after multiple complaints from a group called [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collective_Shout '''Collective Shout'''] <ref name = "Visa-Mastercard-Censorship">{{Cite news | last=Hansford | first=Amelia | title=Why are Visa and Mastercard banning ‘adult’ purchases? Here’s everything you need to know | url=https://www.thepinknews.com/2025/08/04/visa-mastercard-adult-purchases/ | website=ThePinkNews | date=2025-08-04 | access-date=2025-09-02 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250814182300/https://www.thepinknews.com/2025/08/04/visa-mastercard-adult-purchases/ | archive-date=2025-08-14}}</ref>

===Itch.io===
In July 2025, [[Itch.io]], a platform for many indie games, delisted "all adult {{Wplink|Not safe for work|NSFW}} content" from their storefront. Later that month, they restored all NSFW games, as long as they're free. Currently, they are in negotiations with payment processors to start restoring some paid titles, but they have acknowledged that this will see some titles permanently removed from the platform. <ref name = "Visa-Mastercard-Censorship" />

===Wikileaks, 2011===
Famous whistleblower Julian Assange was censored in what he called a "financial blockade."

"Visa and MasterCard stopped processing donations for WikiLeaks in December 2010 after the United States criticized the organization's release of thousands of sensitive U.S. diplomatic cables from its embassies all over the world."

From Visa, Mastercard, Bank of America, PayPal, and Western Union.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Holden |first=Michael |date=2011-10-24 |title=WikiLeaks says "blockade" threatens its existence |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-britain-wikileaks-idUSTRE79N46K20111024/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250829181835/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-britain-wikileaks-idUSTRE79N46K20111024/ |archive-date=2025-08-29 |access-date=2025-08-29 |website=Reuters}}</ref>

==Possible Solutions==

*Cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin or Monero
*Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC)
*[https://www.taler.net GNU Taler] is open source and allows for payments that are anonymous for the payer but not the entity receiving the money

==External links==

*https://www.eff.org/issues/financial-censorship
*https://www.change.org/p/stop-payment-processors-from-dictating-legal-purchases
*https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/987/text

==References==
<references />
[[Category:Common terms]]

Liberty Safe

2025-08-13T04:22:29Z

GeeseAreDeadly: expanded a bit on the introduction. Then added a controversy section with subsections for the stated controversy, and the outcome.

==Liberty Safe==
Founded in 1988 by Jay Crosby in Payson, Utah, [https://www.libertysafe.com/ '''Liberty Safe'''] is an American manufacturer of gun safes, home safes, vault doors, and handgun vaults.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20101204162112/http://www.libertysafe.com/images/downloads/history_of_liberty_safe_090619.pdf "History of Liberty Safe"] (PDF). Archived from [https://www.libertysafe.com/pages/our-history the original] on 2010-12-04. Retrieved 2011-02-03. ([[wikipedia:Liberty_Safe#References|Source found via Wikipedia references]]) </ref>
==Controversy==
===Providing Master Key To The FBI===
On August 30th, 2023 Liberty Safe was contacted by the FBI, asking for a code to access an individual's safe. The FBI provided a warrant, however there was no mention of a subpoena. <ref> [https://x.com/libertysafeinc/status/1699245595867971969 Official statement] by Liberty Safe from their X (formerly Twitter) account. </ref> Liberty Safe provided the FBI with a 'Master Code' which allowed them to open the safe. When information of this became public, the firearms community voiced their criticisms, and one customer even cancelled their order. <ref> [https://www.scnr.com/article/liberty-safe-cites-company-protocol-on-decision-to-provide-fbi-with-access-code_f8620a4a4cc311ee9f19b07b25f8c291 Liberty safe cites company protocol on decision to provide FBI with access code.] </ref>

===Outcome===
After significant backlash, Liberty Safe made a post on X (formerly Twitter) on September 6th, 2025, announcing policy changes that now require a subpoena before giving a master code to law enforcement. <ref name = "Updated Liberty Safe policy"> [https://x.com/libertysafeinc/status/1699606598669459680/photo/3 Updated policy statement] from Liberty safe on X (formerly Twitter)</ref> They also introduced a way for customers to reset or delete their recovery code. Either option removes the code from the company database, making it inaccessible to Liberty Safe. <ref name = "Updated Liberty Safe policy"/> <ref> [https://www.libertysafe.com/pages/protecting-your-privacy Liberty Safe new 'Master code' policy] on their official website. </ref>
==References==
{{Reflist}}

Consumer Rights Wiki - User contributions [en]

Financial censorship

Liberty Safe