itch.io

I respect your decision on this matter but I feel the larger picture is being lost. If Itch did not "bend the knee" then the whole site would have been taken down and more livelihoods would have been at stake. There are creators on this site that very much rely on Itch for money. Those that run Itch do not want this to happen and have even posted petitions and where to focus on to help out in this situation. 

Also fighting the UK government is a pretty big call for an indie game site.

The thing is, there really isn't an "elsewhere". This is a large scale targeting. Even if you found someplace it's highly likely it's either already gotten hit by OSA or will be hit by Mastercard/Visa. It's why focusing on Itch itself gets nowhere.

It's actually the fault of both Mastercard/Visa/Stripe as will as OSA and Collective Shout. They are the ones ultimately making the decisions and no where is safe as long as they have a say in what sites sell. 

People have been posting a lot of helpful links and phone numbers to call in other discussions but I will add a couple here:

UK petition to repeal OSA: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/722903

US ACLU petition against Mastercard: https://action.aclu.org/petition/mastercard-sex-work-work-end-your-unjust-policy

If you call Mastercard, Visa, and/or Stripe: be polite but assert that you will not do e-mail. They want you to do emails right now so they can easily filter and ignore them. Calling hits them the most. Here is a Bluesky thread from someone that worked at a call center. 

We need to keep this energy going! The ACLU petition is at over 147,000 signatures and the one to repeal OSA is over 320,000! 

If US anti-discriminatory laws worked all around I would be able to go topless like any other man. Instead I live in a state where I will be arrested while other states, such as Kansas, allows for toplessness. It all really depends and it doesn't always mean you get the protection you deserve. 

Not to mention that gay panic "defense" laws still exist in the US. 

I said to be cautious and watch the bill. I'm not sure where you keep thinking I'm saying absolute no to this. Politics are tricky as we have seen many times before where bills in their infancy start out as one thing and get absolutely changed at the end either for better or worse.

Some people do not know or understand the workings of how bills are passed and changed and thus I am speaking out to say this to those who may not understand.

I will say again that the BB Bill did not originally have the banning of all trans adults transitioning, then it was added, and then it was taken out after backlash when people noticed it. You should watch, be cautious, and not blindly go into bills with all this given. 

Not to mention that changes to a bill can happen down the line as it's being voted on. Bills being voted on aren't written in stone and given the people cosponsoring the bill I would say that, if not watched closely, they may just add whatever exceptions they want into it. Just because a bill says something now doesn't mean it will stay that way. It can drastically change during the process of putting them out if it even gets out. 

There is nothing wrong with giving an air of caution when it comes to bills especially ones propped up by those that are anti-LGBT and are known for adding things later into bills as they are being passed down and voted on. Lest we forget when complete banning of all trans people transitioning was put into and then taken out of the BB Bill. A lot of the people sponsoring the bill are the same people that looked for that to happen. 

I am asking to watch closely and not blindly follow. They may just add that adult content can be an exception or anything else down the line. They are politicians and they are certainly not fighting for us. 

I want to say that I've been watching this petition since the takedowns on Steam and that before the takedowns on Itch it was ~75,000 signatures and now, as of writing this, it is over 116,000! ACLU does a lot of great work and is worth the time for a signature.

For the sake of working together to try and get something done, here is the ACLU petition: https://action.aclu.org/petition/mastercard-sex-work-work-end-your-unjust-policy

I have been keeping an eye on it since Steam first started taking down some of it's NSFW games and the petition has skyrocketed by thousands of signatures since what has gone down here on itch in some hours alone. As of typing it is at 82,000 and growing rapidly. 

I am unsure how you think Discord works in terms of filtering images or what half your message is supposed to be saying to be quite honest. 

I'm saying that if it does good then that's great but one should not blindly push a bill without first looking at the bill itself as well as the source and the cosponsors that support it.

Everyone I don't think posting porn in a public server where it cannot be properly filtered is the best course of action nor is endorsing this sort of behavior. Real fighting back is working together against the root problem which appears to be Mastercard and Visa. 

I've been watching the amount of signature numbers on this one for some time now since the Steam wipe and the amount of signatures has shot up by thousands since I last saw it! It's up to 80,000 now! 

I don't believe an entire shut down should be done. Yes it's terrible but there are still a lot of creators on here that rely on this site for income including NSFW creators that are not shadowbanned or deleted yet talking about how much they rely on sales on this site. 

People have the right to be angry over this but we shouldn't jump the gun. It will only hurt more people if the site completely went down immediately right now. If we call for a site shut down right now we are practically no better then Itch taking down all these games out of the blue. 

I hope that is the outcome but you never know in the end. I'm saying to give this some caution given the source. 

It should be noted that this bill is sponsored by Kevin Cramer, a Republican that wholly supports Trump. This bill may not be the saving grace it first seems to be. Those are just my thoughts however.