{"id":51880,"date":"2025-09-11T02:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-09-10T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/?p=51880"},"modified":"2025-09-10T18:37:51","modified_gmt":"2025-09-10T09:37:51","slug":"credit-card-companies-censorship-of-video-games-is-thriving-on-peoples-lack-of-awareness-japanese-politician-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/credit-card-companies-censorship-of-video-games-is-thriving-on-peoples-lack-of-awareness-japanese-politician-says\/","title":{"rendered":"Credit card companies\u2019 censorship of video games is thriving on people\u2019s lack of awareness, Japanese politician says\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Following mass delisting of NSFW video games<\/a> across platforms like Steam and Itch.io, Japanese politician and former assemblyman Zenko Kurishita addressed the issue of credit card companies\u2019 censorship in a recent interview with Denfaminicogamer<\/a>. Kurishita, who lobbied against Japan\u2019s legal restrictions on children’s daily gaming time<\/a> back in 2020, has likewise been vocal about defending freedom of expression in popular media throughout the years.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The issue of credit card companies one-sidedly enforcing censorship of games only recently started gaining traction on a worldwide level, but in Japan, it has been a problem ever since 2022, when crackdowns on adult content platforms like DLsite<\/a> began. It goes without saying that things have escalated in the meantime, and Kurishita says that the most dangerous part of the ongoing censorship is the \u201cinvisible\u201d mechanism behind it.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Visa<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Aside from being private companies that wield enormous power over digital payments, the problem with credit card companies like Visa and Mastercard is that \u201cno one knows their true intentions,\u201d Kurishita says. They do not state their principles outright, aside from general remarks like \u201cdoing what\u2019s necessary to protect brand reputation<\/a>.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Based on his communication with parties affected by credit card companies\u2019 restrictions, Kurishita says that even the platforms themselves are not informed of any clear reasons or rules \u2013 they just receive short-notice ultimatums, which causes them to \u201cerr on the side of safety\u201d and carry out mass deletions of content. They have no way of finding out what specific content triggered the issue, and are forced to act quickly so as to not lose their most widely used payment options. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFrom people I\u2019ve spoken with at multiple platforms, they\u2019re just suddenly told, \u2018Starting next week, you won\u2019t be able to use our [payment] services anymore.\u2019 And it\u2019s not even communicated by Visa or Mastercard directly, it\u2019s passed down indirectly through acquirers or payment processors.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kurishita suggests that this indirect communication and vague messaging is deliberate, and is the most problematic part of the issue. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEspecially with regards to what\u2019s happening on Steam, the fact that no one takes responsibility is concerning. In other words, responsibility for censorship is deliberately spread out so it\u2019s difficult to pin down. In fact, Visa and Mastercard deny being directly involved. They’re the ones who create the rules, but it’s the acquirers and processors under them that actually enforce them.\u201d\u00a0

\u201cBecause the structure is so complex, you can\u2019t clearly tell who is regulating what, or for what purpose. That uncertainty is the most frightening part, and the essence of the problem. (…) However, precisely because it\u2019s made so hard to see, I think most people don\u2019t perceive how serious a threat it is. And the companies are exploiting that lack of awareness to maintain their power, which is not healthy.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kurishita says that the solution to this problem lies in raising awareness and diversifying payment options \u2013 especially in Japan, which he considers a very non-self-reliant country when it comes to payment infrastructure. If giants like Visa and Mastercard were faced with competition, and thus a real threat of losing market share, they likely wouldn\u2019t be able to make such aggressive moves. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Related articles: \u201cIt\u2019s a security hole that endangers democracy itself.\u201d NieR creator speaks out against payment processors pressuring Japanese adult content platforms<\/strong><\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Japanese archive of out-of-print manga crowdfunded back into existence following Visa and Mastercard suspensions<\/strong><\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Credit card restrictions are spreading even to Japanese platforms for women\u2019s adult content, including audio dramas and BL doujinshi<\/strong><\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Former Japanese assemblyman offers analysis of the deliberately “invisible” mechanism of censorship by credit card companies.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":55,"featured_media":51883,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_gspb_post_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[17],"class_list":["post-51880","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-japan-related-news"],"blocksy_meta":[],"yoast_head":"\nCredit card companies\u2019 censorship of video games is thriving on people\u2019s lack of awareness, Japanese politician says\u00a0 - AUTOMATON WEST<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Former Japanese assemblyman offers analysis of the deliberately "invisible" mechanism of censorship by credit card companies.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/credit-card-companies-censorship-of-video-games-is-thriving-on-peoples-lack-of-awareness-japanese-politician-says\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Credit card companies\u2019 censorship of video games is thriving on people\u2019s lack of awareness, Japanese politician says\u00a0 - 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