4 ms·

Visa/Mastercard banning porn has been a consistent and steady policy for years now. Maybe this time it was triggered by this specific group, but it comes in a

Visa/Mastercard banning porn has been a consistent and steady policy for years now. Maybe this time it was triggered by this specific group, but it comes in a line of events that all went into that direction for years and years. American puritanism is neither a flash in the pan nor a fringe movement of people that just need to be told how it is, IMHO.

Yeul 1y ago
I will say one thing for Puritanism they would have exiled Trump not vote him mayor.
- sojournerc 1y ago
  Despite the down votes I think this is right. The reason the "conservative" side has voted for Trump is more voting against the other side. With maybe a Mitt Romney type and an actual primary, the religious right would go that way. Many conservatives do not like trump, but consider him better than the alternative. I'm grateful my parents, who were life long conservatives, haven't lived to see the tragedy of what passes for Republicans these days.
- johnnyanmac 1y ago
  You're not wrong, in a vacuum. Proper puritanism would have been disgusted by trump for a good 20 years before his presidency. . It's too bad that puritanism is often co-opted by the largest hypocrites. SO perhaps they would vote him in in practice.
- makeitdouble 1y ago
  Trump is in favor of giving more power to US corporations and letting money speak ("deals", or bribery depending on your POV). He's a very good defense against politicians with stronger ideologies, especially those more aligned with international values which tend to smooth out specific cultural gripes.
kurthr 1y ago
[flagged]
galleywest200 1y ago
Worth pointing out that this group that pushed this, Collective Shout, is Australian.
- latentsea 1y ago
  If I were Visa/Mastercard, I would make it look that way too.
- averageRoyalty 1y ago
  Yep, and their motivation was different (the opinion that banning these types of games reduces domestic violence) to Visa/Mastercard, but the goals align.
Twirrim 1y ago
> Visa/Mastercard banning porn has been a consistent and steady policy for years now. Yeah, because they got sued for processing payments on some porn sites that weren't taking down revenge porn. They're not puritans, they're concerned about their bottom line, and the lawsuits threatened them with losing lots of money.
- makeitdouble 1y ago
  > They're not puritans They don't need to. I'm saying that we've seen the same pattern for a while now, and puritan groups have enough money/influence to dictate a lot of how the online world looks like now. I'd argue Visa/Mastercard could deal with the issue if they really wanted to, but as you point out they're following the money, and I wouldn't expect them to do otherwise either. I still think they share the blame (being opportunistic doesn't mean being above criticism), but you're right that more or it lays on other shoulders.
  - wordsinaline 1y ago
    can you please list some puritan groups you refer to? maybe explain with an example what theyve done before to shape the internet atm? i have zero idea what is going on.
    - makeitdouble 1y ago
      > I have zero idea what is going on. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Puritans_in_North_America https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Puritans_in_N... > some puritan groups People with the same question: https://puritanboard.com/threads/who-are-the-modern-puritans.17441/ https://puritanboard.com/threads/who-are-the-modern-puritans...
      - wordsinaline 1y ago
        im sorry how is the internet being controlled here? you linked to a wiki page and a forum? confusing.
disgruntledphd2 1y ago
Honestly though, Visa and MC would take porn in a heartbeat if the dispute rates weren't so high. Like, they were definitely burned by the Mindgeek stuff a few years back, but at it's heart this is a commercial decision because disputes cost them lots and lots of money.
- onetokeoverthe 1y ago
  [dead]
- makeitdouble 1y ago
  They deal with gambling, they surely can deal with porn.
  - disgruntledphd2 1y ago
    They do, but gambling (US based) doesn't have the same history of disputes and chargebacks because it's only been around for a few years. I suspect that they'll start refusing them (or charging them waaaayyyy more) pretty soon.
- account42 1y ago
  If it was about dispute rates they would just increase the merchant fees instead of banning it.

Yeul 1y ago

I will say one thing for Puritanism they would have exiled Trump not vote him mayor.

sojournerc 1y ago
Despite the down votes I think this is right. The reason the "conservative" side has voted for Trump is more voting against the other side. With maybe a Mitt Romney type and an actual primary, the religious right would go that way. Many conservatives do not like trump, but consider him better than the alternative. I'm grateful my parents, who were life long conservatives, haven't lived to see the tragedy of what passes for Republicans these days.
johnnyanmac 1y ago
You're not wrong, in a vacuum. Proper puritanism would have been disgusted by trump for a good 20 years before his presidency. . It's too bad that puritanism is often co-opted by the largest hypocrites. SO perhaps they would vote him in in practice.
makeitdouble 1y ago
Trump is in favor of giving more power to US corporations and letting money speak ("deals", or bribery depending on your POV). He's a very good defense against politicians with stronger ideologies, especially those more aligned with international values which tend to smooth out specific cultural gripes.

kurthr 1y ago

[flagged]

galleywest200 1y ago

Worth pointing out that this group that pushed this, Collective Shout, is Australian.

latentsea 1y ago
If I were Visa/Mastercard, I would make it look that way too.
averageRoyalty 1y ago
Yep, and their motivation was different (the opinion that banning these types of games reduces domestic violence) to Visa/Mastercard, but the goals align.

Twirrim 1y ago

> Visa/Mastercard banning porn has been a consistent and steady policy for years now. Yeah, because they got sued for processing payments on some porn sites that weren't taking down revenge porn. They're not puritans, they're concerned about their bottom line, and the lawsuits threatened them with losing lots of money.

makeitdouble 1y ago
> They're not puritans They don't need to. I'm saying that we've seen the same pattern for a while now, and puritan groups have enough money/influence to dictate a lot of how the online world looks like now. I'd argue Visa/Mastercard could deal with the issue if they really wanted to, but as you point out they're following the money, and I wouldn't expect them to do otherwise either. I still think they share the blame (being opportunistic doesn't mean being above criticism), but you're right that more or it lays on other shoulders.
- wordsinaline 1y ago
  can you please list some puritan groups you refer to? maybe explain with an example what theyve done before to shape the internet atm? i have zero idea what is going on.
  - makeitdouble 1y ago
    > I have zero idea what is going on. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Puritans_in_North_America https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Puritans_in_N... > some puritan groups People with the same question: https://puritanboard.com/threads/who-are-the-modern-puritans.17441/ https://puritanboard.com/threads/who-are-the-modern-puritans...
    - wordsinaline 1y ago
      im sorry how is the internet being controlled here? you linked to a wiki page and a forum? confusing.

disgruntledphd2 1y ago

Honestly though, Visa and MC would take porn in a heartbeat if the dispute rates weren't so high. Like, they were definitely burned by the Mindgeek stuff a few years back, but at it's heart this is a commercial decision because disputes cost them lots and lots of money.

onetokeoverthe 1y ago
[dead]
makeitdouble 1y ago
They deal with gambling, they surely can deal with porn.
- disgruntledphd2 1y ago
  They do, but gambling (US based) doesn't have the same history of disputes and chargebacks because it's only been around for a few years. I suspect that they'll start refusing them (or charging them waaaayyyy more) pretty soon.
account42 1y ago
If it was about dispute rates they would just increase the merchant fees instead of banning it.