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It's because Visa got sued, lost, and it was found out they knowingly processed payments for illegal adult content, so they basically avoid the sector entirely

It's because Visa got sued, lost, and it was found out they knowingly processed payments for illegal adult content, so they basically avoid the sector entirely now. Economist had an article about it maybe two years ago and came to much the same conclusion you did. IIRC, the failure in their mind was government not stepping in to make a law so things are less ambiguous in the future. Now payment processing cos get to gate keep people's speech, which means everything is basically a civil suit away from getting blacklisted.

braiamp 1y ago
> It's because Visa got sued, lost, and it was found out they knowingly processed payments for illegal adult content Got any source for that? What they got sued for? Aiding human trafficking?
- driscoll42 1y ago
  It's not quite that specific, but close enough: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/01/business/dealbook/pornhub-visa-mastercard-disney.html https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/01/business/dealbook/pornhub... https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2022/08/california-court-says-visa-may-be-partly-liable-for-child-porn-problem/ https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2022/08/california-court... >This week, US District Judge Cormac Carney of the US District Court of the Central District of California decided that there's reason to believe that Visa knowingly processed payments that allowed MindGeek to monetize "a substantial amount of child porn." To decide, the court wants to know much more about Visa's involvement, calling for more evidence of legal harms caused during a jurisdictional discovery process extended through December 30, 2022. According to Court Listener, the case is still ongoing - https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/59992265/serena-fleites-v-mindgeek-sarl/?page=4 https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/59992265/serena-fleites...
aranelsurion 1y ago
I wonder what are the odds of Visa being succesfully sued for processing payments to such a huge brand like Steam. Steam has its virtual wallet and marketplace as well, so Visa is twice removed from where the money will actually go once it enters Steam ecosystem. Even as an abundance of caution, this doesn’t make sense to me.
moffkalast 1y ago
Seems rather weird that Visa out of all the parties involved got hit by this, that's like suing the national bank for printing cash currency that gets used in illegal ways? Or suing the pavement for allowing a heist getaway car to drive away. Or the gas station where they last filled it up.

braiamp 1y ago

> It's because Visa got sued, lost, and it was found out they knowingly processed payments for illegal adult content Got any source for that? What they got sued for? Aiding human trafficking?

driscoll42 1y ago
It's not quite that specific, but close enough: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/01/business/dealbook/pornhub-visa-mastercard-disney.html https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/01/business/dealbook/pornhub... https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2022/08/california-court-says-visa-may-be-partly-liable-for-child-porn-problem/ https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2022/08/california-court... >This week, US District Judge Cormac Carney of the US District Court of the Central District of California decided that there's reason to believe that Visa knowingly processed payments that allowed MindGeek to monetize "a substantial amount of child porn." To decide, the court wants to know much more about Visa's involvement, calling for more evidence of legal harms caused during a jurisdictional discovery process extended through December 30, 2022. According to Court Listener, the case is still ongoing - https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/59992265/serena-fleites-v-mindgeek-sarl/?page=4 https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/59992265/serena-fleites...

aranelsurion 1y ago

I wonder what are the odds of Visa being succesfully sued for processing payments to such a huge brand like Steam. Steam has its virtual wallet and marketplace as well, so Visa is twice removed from where the money will actually go once it enters Steam ecosystem. Even as an abundance of caution, this doesn’t make sense to me.

moffkalast 1y ago

Seems rather weird that Visa out of all the parties involved got hit by this, that's like suing the national bank for printing cash currency that gets used in illegal ways? Or suing the pavement for allowing a heist getaway car to drive away. Or the gas station where they last filled it up.