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The actual answer: hedge fund manager Bill Ackman. https://www.institutionalinvestor.com/article/2bswuu1nfc040ho7ghudc/culture/bill-ackman-sent-a-text-to-the-ce
by btown 5mo ago
The actual answer: hedge fund manager Bill Ackman. https://www.institutionalinvestor.com/article/2bswuu1nfc040ho7ghudc/culture/bill-ackman-sent-a-text-to-the-ceo-of-mastercard-what-happened-next-is-a-parable-for-esg https://www.institutionalinvestor.com/article/2bswuu1nfc040h... & https://finance.yahoo.com/news/visa-suspends-payments-for-ads-on-pornhub-after-lawsuit-pressure-from-hedge-funder-bill-ackman-171625930.html https://finance.yahoo.com/news/visa-suspends-payments-for-ad...
> But he was friendly with Mastercard’s then-CEO Ajay Banga, whom he had met through a mutual friend. Ackman texted Banga, providing a link to Kristof’s story with his tweet: “Amex, VISA and MasterCard should immediately withhold payments or withdraw until this is fixed. PayPal has already done so.” (Ackman was unaware that American Express already did not allow its card to be used on adult sites.)
> Banga quickly wrote back: “We’re on it.”
> Then things began to move. Within days, Mastercard announced it had “instructed the financial institutions that connect the site to our network to terminate acceptance” of [PH] charges, saying it had found evidence of illegal activity and was continuing to investigate.
EDIT: The antisemitism in some replies is disgusting and I reject it entirely. This post is about a specific, publicly reported action by one individual, not about any religious or ethnic group. Any attempt to turn this into conspiracy-mongering is bigotry, not analysis. I don’t want that associated with my comment.
- andtheboat 5mo ago[flagged]
- tt24 5mo agoWhat’s the implication here? Jews are forcing payment processors to ban adult content?
- nathanmills 5mo agoYes, that is exactly what is happening.
- throw4847285 5mo agoI thought the Jews were creating pornography to keep gentile men down. Now they're also preventing access to pornography? Don't tell me they're responsible for Bolshevism and Capitalism!?! Damn, they don't call it the socialism of fools for nothing.
- nathanmills 5mo agoHave you considered that different people have different beliefs, or do you just think everyone who disagrees with you is just one person who thinks the same thing?
- throw4847285 5mo agoOk, what do you believe?
- nathanmills 5mo agoI've already stated it. Is there something specific you are asking for? >> What’s the implication here? Jews are forcing payment processors to ban adult content? > Yes, that is exactly what is happening.
- tt24 5mo agoWhat’s their motivation for this?
- nathanmills 5mo agoThey claim it "damages people's ability to study and pray." http://archive.today/2023.09.22-005544/https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2012/05/its-not-just-porn-why-ultra-orthodox-jews-fear-the-internet/257561/ http://archive.today/2023.09.22-005544/https://www.theatlant...
- nwah1 5mo agoSo, the problem is that he feels strongly about not incentivizing what he considers sexual exploitation. If he had the reverse position, then suddenly you would feel more positively about his identity group?
- bakugo 5mo agoYou really think a billionaire is going out of his way to take a moral stance against "sexual exploitation" just because? He stands to gain something from it. They always do. I bet some of his friends just happen to own professional porn studios, who obviously benefit from tightening the noose on the competition, such as "independent" porn creators.
- throw4847285 5mo agoYou mean the Harvard MBA right? He means the Harvard MBA?
- Cyph0n 5mo agoHuh, the same person who was behind crushing the campus protests & blacklisting/cancellation of protestors at Harvard that were in opposition to the Gaza genocide.
- epolanski 5mo agoThere isn't a single anti semitic comment in your replies, mind to link it?
- btown 5mo agoThe reply has been flagged/marked dead by HN since, and should at minimum auto-collapse (thus hiding even worse replies to it) regardless of your account's "showdead" settings. I'm not going to link to it, and it's not worth reading regardless.
- nathanmills 5mo agoHere's the comment thread: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48123664 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48123664
- tt24 5mo agoIt was flagged. I replied to it, you can get the gist of what it was based on my reply.