Financial censorship

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Financial censorship is the practice of major payment processors to refuse to process transactions for entities they deem to not align with their own values. Since these payment processors hold an extremely dominant position in global finance with no widely-adopted alternative, this practice results in a strong chilling effect by making independent free expression that runs afoul of their policies financially unsustainable.

Examples

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Steam

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 publishing guidelines against "in particular, certain kinds of adult only content", and proceeded to withdraw hundreds of titles from sale on the platform.

See also

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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