CREDIT DECLINED | Mastercard, Steam, and the Importance of What Corporations *Don't* Say (VL)

Key Points

• Payment processors like Mastercard and Visa have been influencing the content policies of digital distribution platforms like Steam and itch.io by threatening to withhold their services for certain types of content, despite the legality of such content.
• Mastercard's rule 5.12.7 allows it to restrict transactions that may damage its brand or reflect negatively on its trademarks, which goes beyond merely ensuring compliance with the law and introduces a subjective standard that can lead to over-censorship.
• Supporting alternative platforms and initiatives that resist this kind of censorship, as well as directly communicating concerns to payment processors, can help maintain freedom of expression in digital media.