I know we're upset about itch, but they're not the only ones

Payment processors harassed companies bc of a 1,000 email hate campaign

But we can EASILY top 1,000!

I prewrote an email + got the contact info - you just have to send!

โ†ป๐Ÿ’ฌโ™ก to boost

We CAN make a difference ๐Ÿ’•

#itch #censorship

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They are like other "Help organizations" where they say it's for the good but they just ruin everything about it. And look crazy to everyone in the process.
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Absolutely this. It's bigotry branded as "helping" people
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Collective Shout?
More like Collective Silence(ing media).

Seriously though this whole situation sucks, I really hope things turn around from it.
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As someone that worked in banking, using the terms "lodging complaint" is absolutely vital, a lot of places have laws that FORCE financial institutes to investigate and resolve every single "complaint" lodged with them. It used to be my job, and enough of them can cause a lot of havoc.
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I had to go double check the template to figure out if this was a suggestion or saying I did it right bc I wrote all this in a half asleep delirium ๐Ÿ˜‚

I'm glad the terms used are helpful! Hopefully it'll put even more pressure on them to change things ๐Ÿ’•
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Saving this. I know what Iโ€™m doing after work today
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just called both mc and visa and something others might find helpful is to clarify you're not complaining about a specific transaction, you're complaining about the company's policy regarding adult content

the customer service reps i talked to didn't seem to understand until i explained that part
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Thank you for taking the time to make those calls, and for this insight! Super helpful for others making calls
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Complaint letter! You can copy/paste or edit

You can use the same info for a call!

Paypal:
Phone (US): 1-888-221-1161

Phone (outside US): 1-402-935-2050

Hours: 6am - 6pm PT

Online (for non-users or logged out - UK bc US site ONLY allows logged in users): www.paypal.com/uk/cshelp/complaints

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I didn't realize it, but PayPal gives you a lot of pushback when talking about adult content. Visa pretends to listen, but PayPal fights you on complaining about the policy
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The US site just straight up does not have a "Submit a complaint" option. But I submitted through the UK site instead.
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๐Ÿ“Œ thanks for this!
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I don't know if I may have made a mistake during the submission process, I recieved this email today by Paypal
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Hi! Just to add context: I was able to submit a complaint through paypal.com without being logged in.

(Thank you very much for the links and letter template!)
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You might know better than me, but I'd recommend people call in the case of paypal rather than email - especially given you have to be logged in I would be worried about individualized retaliation.

Also, thanks for making this thread - having my income evaporate overnight has me pretty miffed.
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I sent emails to all the major payment processors. So far, no response from Mastercard/Visa at all, a bot reply from Paypal, and either a copy/pasted reply from stripe or something that implies a real human at least looked at my complaint.
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Mastercard:
Phone (US): 1-800-627-8372

Phone (outside US): 1-636-722-7111

www.mastercard.com/us/en/personal/get-support/ask-mastercard.html

Visa:
Phone (US): 1-800-847-2911

Non-US numbers:
usa.visa.com/contact-us.html

Online form:
usa.visa.com/Forms/contact-us-form.html

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Tx for info thread! Visa, MC and Stripe have all heard from me. In my crispest tone.

Remember calls and emails reversed PayPal's attempt to do this with Smashwords, so it works, but we need VAST NUMBERS. Let's go!!
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Fuck yeah tysm for the help! We absolutely CAN make a difference!
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Commenting for visibility <3

Took me less than 5 minutes! Everyone can help contribute :)
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Ayo lets goooo! Good job, we can do this ๐Ÿ˜ค
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Sharing what I assume is an auto response I got from the askvisa email!
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It 100% is, there have been multiple other screenshots of this exact email from "Mark" ๐Ÿ˜ฎโ€๐Ÿ’จ
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I don't know if this helps, but I wrote some very simple scripts when calling to complain. I see a lot of information going around, and it made it difficult for me to form my thoughts on what to say. Feel free to use and adjusts as needed.

docs.google.com/document/d/13CSWPrWsS4S-Sokq3iqg7zXlDf1FsbRyhIshzW5Jjjk/edit?usp=sharing
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Thank you for sharing this! Putting together a call script absolutely has been on my list but I haven't gotten to it yet - if I don't have time soon, would it be alright if I included yours in the doc instead?
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Censorship BS like this is why I've become increasingly cold at best and outright hostile normally towards heterosexuality!
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Hi, I'm a cis heterosexual male and I fucking hate censorship!
Still going through everything that's happened but will happily sign any petition to fight this!
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This is a crazy take, you think the world is outright hostile to the thing most people are?
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Absolutely understandable, its very hard being charitable to people who are part of a group that constantly actively searching to remove you from existence
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I also understand where youโ€™re coming from, but I donโ€™t agree labeling EVERY straight person as against us ( especially since it includes straight people from other minorities like trans/black prople, or even cishet people that might wanna support this).
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Also donโ€™t forget senator Mike Lee wants to pass a bill to ban porn and have nsfw artists arrested
The bill is called IDOA and thankfully itโ€™s still stuck on the house floor but call your representatives that you oppose the bill
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bsky.app/profile/islandwarlock.bsky.social/post/3lusk6dkpek2z
Important add on, just contacting once wont do much, contact them constantly, every day if able, make the calls last long, force them to have to consider hiring more customer support people o handle the amount of calls
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100% we need to KEEP contacting! This momentum CAN be kept up + we can make them listen!

There's also a whole bunch of other things you can do if you have the time, they're outlined later in the thread + on the doc + site!

anti-censorship-campaign.carrd.co/
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I recently got off call with the CFPB and they gave me another phone number to call. (877)382-4357- Contact Financial Trade Services
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That's the FTC! They're on our list to add steps for on the site <3
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This is more to do with the ofcom porn ID regulations, which I advocate for signing this petition, but the original post is talkin about payment processors censoring this kind of content
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This is also really important! I won't be adding it to the doc as it is a separate issue, but thank you for sharing!
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Boostingggg
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Thanks for the boost! Don't forget to copy + paste the message into the complaint forms when you have a minute - every message helps ๐Ÿ’•
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We have to hit them where it hurts. We have to promote and support this bill. Spread the word about this, we have to support it, and bring this movement into the political arena, regardless of party.
www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/401
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The reason I haven't added this to the doc is concerns about the origins + goals - namely that they want to use this to be able to do REALLY harmful things. This bill wasn't made to protect people
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this honestly cant stand... why are people trying to destroy these spaces?
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Bc some people would rather fill the world with hate than with love. But we can be LOUDER, we can make a difference!
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I fucking hate all this purist bs
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It really is awful
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I wrote to both Visa and Mastercard as well as my local politicians. We can win this if we work together!
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Heck yeah thank you for doing your part! We can all work together and make a difference here ๐Ÿ˜ค
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Thank you for setting this up ๐Ÿ’œ๐Ÿ’œ๐Ÿ’œ
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Gads what is the obsession with infantalizing everything??? Let adults have adult things, jfc
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That's the bread and butter for the types of people doing this damage. Infantalization as a means to try and take power away from whoever they don't like. It's super dumb, but that's what collective shout is doing.
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It really is awful, we deserve to be able to use our funds as we please
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90% or more of your efforts will be managed by AI and emails will get batch replies most likely. They have the capability to answer thousands of emails at the same time. This is how modern customer service systems work. Sales Force and other companies make it possible to do this.
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Signed and contacted. I complained to mastercard this morning, so might as well finish the rounds.
Btw it might be a good idea to provide directions to help bypass phone trees. MC's is awful, but if you live in the US and go 1, 1, 2, 2, 2, 1, you can get to an operator.
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What about Visa?
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Ooooh thank you for this, I'll put it in the doc! I'm disabled and navigating phone trees is extremely difficult for me, so I wasn't able to test and get the info myself
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Sex work is work! NSFW art is art!
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YASSSSS Cat let's go!!!
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thank you so much for making this thread and for its accessibility, heres to a swift decision reversal ๐Ÿท๐Ÿ’ช
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We all got a do our part, y'know? Just so glad that this thread seems to be helping people get involved!
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Why does it fucking matter what people do with their free time? As long is itโ€™s behind closed doors/in an appropriate space, why should it bother anyone what a complete stranger is doing? So frustratingโ€ฆ
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It really is! Especially because the content being restricted is LEGAL and FICTIONAL

Payment processors shouldn't be able to limit what we're allowed to use them for when the sales are LEGAL
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PayPal is trying to say this is due to "Government restrictions", presumably in an attempt to legitimize their actions. There are no government restrictions on adults purchasing adult content. I replied that it was due to pressure from Collective Shout, but idk if that will do anything.
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Wouldn't the specific stuff they're cracking down on potentially be covered by obscenity laws?
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Absolute nonsense. Thank you for sharing this and for responding to them!
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๐Ÿ˜ˆOh, absolutely. Itch messed this entire thing up royally but they aren't the root cause, just an added layer. Thank you for your work, it's very helpful!
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Exactly!!! Like fuck itch for how they handled this, but we need large scale change to prevent this from happening ANYWHERE
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Iโ€™m not great at writing emails but Iโ€™ll sign what needs to be signed
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Thanks for helping out! If it makes it any easier, there is a copy + paste message you can send and direct link to online form submission so you just have to paste + send ๐Ÿ’•
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I just called and they wanted to know my card number. DO NOT GIVE THEM IT. They don't need it for complaints- They're going to check if you had made any purchases and tell you your card is working fine or "It should be working correctly now". Again it's an attempt to quail any anger,
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if they ask for it, tell them that you wish for them to have a good day and hang up AFTER you file your complaint.

While yes, employees are people too- eventually EVERYONE CRACKS so DON'T LET UP!
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Emails sent, petition signed. Together we can make a difference!
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Fuck yeah love to see it! Thanks for helping us make a difference ๐Ÿ’•
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Thank you so much, your post genuinely made this so much easier, shared it everywhere I could! โค๏ธโœŠ
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I'm glad it helped! Corpos make contacting them as difficult as possible to prevent things like this so I tried to make it as simple as possible ๐Ÿ˜ญ
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update: Just sent a complaint to every single one, it took 5 minutes, thank you so much for compiling all of this!
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Fuck yeah let's go!! It really does only take minutes and EVERY one helps ๐Ÿ’•
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This is super important and it's really fucking annoying how they are full of bullshit
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They REALLY are so full of bs
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Fight the CENSORSHIP
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Fuck yeah!! Together we can stop this!
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I would also suggest that if your payment provider is through your bank like mine is, call your bank and lodge a complaint to get them to talk to the payment provider. They have more bargaining power and might be easier to pressure.
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Absolutely contacting banks is huge too!

I just don't have a meaningful way to add that to the doc unfortunately as there are SO many banks and unlike the US representatives there isn't a directory ๐Ÿ˜…
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another thing to note is that Collective Shout's website is hosted by Cloudflare, which has a harassment choice on their abuse form. Just saying, it'd be grand to take down as many ways for that hate group to advertise their shit
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Thank you for spreading awareness and giving us the info and tools we can use to fight back with! I wish the "puritan" movement would stop ):<
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Trying to do my part! And good god same, you'd think they'd eventually get tired but no ๐Ÿซ 
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Thanks for the template, I used it to contand mastercard and PayPal. PayPal quickly answered and seemed to absolutely not understand what my issue is. They suggested if I find any illegal activity from a seller I could report them to PayPal. Wtf, I will spam them some more!
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Please definitely keep up the calls BUT don't spam/harass

If you weren't able to get a case # then def call back and submit the complaint and request a case # but after that try calling back daily to get "updates on your case"

We want to pressure, not harass

There are also lots of other actions
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Yeah, we should target the Payment Companies, not only to have them retract all those threats, but also have them freeze Collective Shout's payment accounts.
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I absolutely hear your frustration, but insisting they do that would but encouraging them to further abuse their power

We do NOT want to tell payment processors they should get to have that kind of control - even if it is against people like collective shout
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I understand 'don't blame itch.io' They're not huge or hugely popular, Mastercard & Visa would swat them like a bug. Steam? Steam could win that fight and they know it. Steam gets invalidated by MC & Visa, *everyone* will lose their collective shit. Steam once said that was a fight they'd fight. ffs
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I'm not saying don't blame them, or any company for how they've handled the pressure

I'm saying JUST lashing out at the individual companies won't do anything bc the source is the payment processors

100% for those who have extra time/energy - reach out to itch etc too!

bsky.app/profile/voiddebris.bsky.social/post/3lupqcclnnk2n
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Looks like there are some media contacts listed on PayPal's site as well that I didn't see in the doc:
specifically corporate, consumer, merchant communications:
jcriscoe@paypal.com
clicht@paypal.com
nwyman@paypal.com
ncassley@paypal.com

newsroom.paypal-corp.com/contact
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Thank you so much!!! Adding now
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Never forget that Collective Shout are just a convenient excuse

The real culprits are Blackrock. It's ALWAYS Blackrock
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a friend of mine also suggested to add getting the BBB involved, lets hit these guys with everything we got, we are going to have to word a format for it though
justicedirect.com/post/how-to-file-a-complaint-with-the-better-business-bureau
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Thank you for sharing this!! Adding it to my list of things I gotta look through + see about adding
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Done and dusted!
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Fuck yeah lets go!!! Thank you for doing your part
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i cant rn but i will do once i get the chance to sit down. its kinda gross that payment processors are acting as judges instead of doing their fucking job
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It IS gross. And ty for taking the time to help out!
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Let's be honest with the solution. We have nothing to lose but our chains
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Heck yeah!!! We CAN make a difference
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No shit why do they gotta censor games for no fucking reason. That's some next level Bullfuck!!
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It ABSOLUTELY is bs, which is why we have to let them know we won't stand for it!
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Adding comments to perhaps aid in the discover feed, the more ser this possible action the better
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Thanks for helping out! Don't forget to send messages when you have a moment - every single voice counts. Together we can help fix this ๐Ÿ˜ค
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call your banks and credit unions too! let them know that you want them to move away from Mastercard and Visa.
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Yes this!!!!

Tbh it may seem like they won't matter but smaller banks are more likely to listen so contact ANYONE you bank with - big or small!
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@mistercrowbar.art You were looking for script specific stuff!! Great info here!!
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Thanks for helping direct people here! Every single voice helps ๐Ÿ’•
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If you're living in the US, you could also call your congressman to get them to support this bill. Basically the proposed Bill prevents payment card companies from refusing services to law-abiding businesses due to political or reputational risk considerations. www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/401
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Just want to advise though that this is a bill proposed by the GOP, who want to use it to prevent discrimination from banks for legal but politically unpopular activities like petroleum mining or firearm sales. Worth reading over the bill first and making up your mind whether you want to support it.
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Thank you for this info + the further clarification about the bill. I will take time to further consider whether I want to add it to the doc as that's concerning
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Done and done. Thank you and everyone else who has helped put this all together!!!
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Thank you for helping out and making your voice heard!
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Has anyone tried also emailing or ringing the CEOs of these companies, see if that has any added impact? The publicly listed email addresses for CEOs are usually treated as high tier customer service contact methods.
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I haven't seen the information for the CEOs available, but there are media contact emails addresses listed for those that we could find them!
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Wow, zurรผck ins Mittalalter. Wir werden wieder von religiรถsen Fanatikern missioniert. Ich dachte, wir wรคren inzwischen im 21.Jh. und nicht im 12.Jh. ๐Ÿ˜’
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the collective shout chose the wrong community to mess with for once.. lets make it hell for them
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Maybe they thought the enemy would be gamergate and they'd just get a load of rape threats and death threats and could point and go "see, look how terrible these people are".

Nope. People who make and play adult video games ain't that. We're polite. We're sensible. We're fucking furious.
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Absolutely! We can stand together and make payment processors listen and reverse this nonsense
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Done ๐Ÿฉท hopefully it helps lil bit
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Heck yeah! I sent in mine as well. We got this! ๐Ÿ˜ค
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The response against payment processor overreach already seems to be BIBLICAL, Iโ€™m so fucking proud of the queer community. Letโ€™s keep up the pressure.
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THATS WHAT IM SAYING

I'm SO proud of the community response to this

We absolutely can and MUST keep up the pressure!!!
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Thanks for your compilation of resources! I'm going to share this around anywhere I can!
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Thank you for helping out and sharing around!
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Not my art and i don't know who is the original. But i thought would be funny.
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This is fantastic thank you ๐Ÿ˜‚
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I saw elsewhere that Collective Shout is a registered charity in Australia and Australians can report them here: www.acnc.gov.au/raise-concern

yellat.money/ this site also has resources.
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Thank you for sharing this!!! I'll take a look at this info ASAP ๐Ÿ’•
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do you happen to have a way to help us navigate through MC's phone tree? thanks in advance
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Yes! It got added to the doc + I believe it's added way at the bottom of the thread too

If you could reach back out after and lmk this worked that would be great! Wanna be sure the info stays up to date + works for everyone ๐Ÿ’•
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I donโ€™t see any email address for me to send the letter to?
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Most sites use an online form to submit to their email - those are linked in the thread

(Don't ask me why, idk + I hate this practice)

There are a BUNCH of emails addresses in the doc tho, including direct contact for media depts
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MasterCard is an arm of the Catholic church, so ""activism"" is just an excuse to pursue their mission of total social control, which is why this will never work.
This is the correct first step, though; do things by the book, show it doesn't work, and start asking very loud questions about why.
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Hey, I'd love more information about Mastercard being an arm of the Catholic Church? I'd never heard that before and I want to know more
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I appreciate the frustration however defeatism doesn't help - they ARE financial institutions and at the end of the day they have to look at their bottom line

There is also information on contacting legislators, and they ALSO have to adhere to laws

We CAN make a difference here
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I think also everyone should shift immediately over to cash where possible for all daily transactions.
The payment processors won't feel the pain from patreon or itch or onlyfans, but they will feel it from walmart, shell, Mobil, Woolworths, safeway, Coles, sainsbury's etc
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This is a great idea for MasterCard/visa, but PayPal *is* an online platform and more than the others absolutely will feel losses online
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Thanks for the list and templates!
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Absolutely! We all gotta do our part to let them know this shit is NOT okay
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Thank you, that's incredibly helpful!
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Thank you for the boost! Don't forget to send the messages + sign the petitions when you have a moment - every voice counts ๐Ÿ’•
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Start the campaign, sign petition, call them, make them aware its unacceptable that they are pressured by a small group of people.
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Exactly!!! And it really was SUCH a small group

We are many and we can be LOUDER
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Sent my complaints to Mastercard and PayPal and signed the petition
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That's great, but also inform your antitrust authorities about abuse of monopoly power and restriction of freedom of expression. We must put a stop to this, even if it means going to court!
And pls sign the petition.
bsky.app/profile/sexytom2011.bsky.social/post/3lup35mkl6k2h
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The petition as well as resources to contact representatives are both in the thread ๐Ÿ’•
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Thank you for consolidating all of this info! I'll be spreading it around as best I can and following through with it myself.
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Thank you for helping out!! Every single email, call, and letter helps!
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Think Paypal got rid of the ability to put in a ticketed complaint.
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Sorry can you elaborate? I used this earlier and it worked, and I just double checked and was able to get to the submission page again

What's the issue you're running into?
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Also for forms that require you to mention your company and job title, you can put NA in those lines so you can still submit it.
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Yes, thank you I didn't think to mention this!

Adding into the doc rn <3
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I don't know what the heck happened to my pin emoji but Imma come back to this!
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๐Ÿ“Œ (testing to see if this works)
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Okay. So it does. I'll have to copy the pin emoji from now on it seems but it does still work.
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Did it, and signed the petition, here's hoping we can shout louder than those bible thumping nutjobs
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Thank you! I actually just saw the petition and will be adding that to the thread as well <3
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I think it's probably important to note that the "Outside US" number is for Americans that are currently not in the United States. It's not for folks that aren't American. That's what that generally means anyway.
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People are absolutely still able to utilize that line if they'd like - they can also go find their countries number if they'd rather - I just don't have the ability to put together every number for every country ๐Ÿ˜…
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Also, I've seen it mentioned elsewhere that Stripe was dealing with itch payments, at least in some jurisdictions, so might be worth chucking up some contact info for them :3
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It's already in the thread + doc ๐Ÿ’•
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Topping it is so easy, weโ€™ve already done it 80-fold on change.org aloneโ€ฆ
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It absolutely IS so easy - but emails, calls, and letters make SO much more of a difference than a petition

That's why we can't just be content that we topped their numbers there! We have to make sure the payment processors know we won't be silent about this!
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According to Visa it's not them, it's Stripes acting on their own. itch has other options.
They choose to join the bigots because they have better rates.
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Also a reminder that Payment Processors operate on much the same systems as the Vegas Strip. If you're blacklisted from one casino, others will find out and blacklist you automatically. Same goes for payment processors, paypal and stripe won't take you if MasterCard or Visa said no.
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Thank you for organizing this list and everyone who contributed to it!

I was able to file complaints to the BBB. I emailed and called Mastercard and Visa. I STONGLY urge everyone to call up their lines as well.

This issue is bigger than us. Certainly bigger than the anxiety I felt dialing them.
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Thank you so much for all the hard work you're putting in!!

100% we have to KEEP this up and calls are ALWAYS more effective than emails

If you'd like to help more, we also have a discord to join for organizing!

bsky.app/profile/voiddebris.bsky.social/post/3luydpvkbkc2x
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Question; is there a way for a non-American to berate these payment processor people's policies? Because so much of the Anglo internet is routed through the USA, this affects sites for everyone.
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You can and should call American companies and complain. Make them listen.
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There are non-US options for everything! If you look through the thread you'll see them, and there's even more info + contacts in the doc ๐Ÿ’•
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Thank you thank you for the clear action steps, it is very much appreciated.
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Thanks for helping out! Every single voice counts ๐Ÿ’•
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As a Canadian, this removing stuff from our stores made by our artists pisses me off. And because it was largely US based companies that are attacking and defunding our artists, I sent my MP an email as well.
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It *is* terrible, and yes the US *is* sucky about this

But the hate group that spurred this on is Australian

And the UK is spearheading a lot of laws that factor in as well

This is a global issue and we've got to all stand together on it ๐Ÿ˜ค
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It absolutely should never have come to this! Payment processors should not have ANY say in how we use our money
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