Itch.io, Censorship, and Fascism

Many other authors have covered what’s happening with itch.io, but if you haven’t heard, they began de-indexing and shadowbanning games, books, and other content on their site a few days ago in the afternoon and evening, quietly and without informing any of their creators. Several games and books were also suspended, leaving many creators’ money in flux, with fear that they will not receive their pending funds.

Late on the night of July 24th, the website finally released a statement that cited the recent pressure from big payment processors, such as Visa and Mastercard, who were directed to look at sites like Steam and itch.io from an Australian conservative hate group called Collective Shout. itch.io stated that they had to protect the infrastructure of their website, and that they would be auditing all games marked as NSFW, as well as profiles marked NSFW. They said that some pages would be permanently deleted.

The next day, they quietly updated their terms and conditions—once again without informing any of their creators. They stated that any projects containing their varied and vague list of ‘banned’ content collecting payments would be denied, however there was no update on the pending funds of the thousands of affected NSFW creators who collected payment before they quietly changed their terms of service. I have several hundred dollars tied up with them, and I’m worried about receiving it. I’m just one of the hundreds—if not thousands—impacted by this.

Several creators have since restricted and delisted their work, seeking to avoid punishment for hosting work that was previously fine on this website that once championed NSFW creators.

This isn’t just an itch.io issue, although the way they handled it was—in my opinion—absolutely abysmal. It’s a payment processor and censorship issue. It’s been happening for a long time, over various platforms as big payment processors push their conservative agendas and punish creators and websites that sell NSFW media.

Several platforms are also very vague on their terms and conditions, and this disproportionately affects queer and trans creators who often get work banned and flagged when cishet counterparts are left unaffected.

Even with this recent itch.io de-indexing, they didn’t just go after projects tagged as ‘NSFW’ and ‘adult.’ Several projects that contained NO adult content but were tagged ‘queer’ ‘trans’ and ‘lgbt+’ were also de-indexed or deleted. Itch.io claims that this wasn’t the case, but there are several creators with solid evidence who are speaking up about it on social media.

This is a simple, clear way that we are witnessing fascism sneak into our online activities in real time. It’s a very real danger, and it’s getting worse. No matter where NSFW creators flee to every time a company decides to change their TOS without warning like this, it could happen anywhere else, because it’s all in the hands of the big payment processors who control the majority of online payments.

We need to stand up to fascism and these payment companies who hold our ability to purchase, create, and view adult content above our heads. We need to hold companies like itch.io accountable. They are not the sole cause, but the way they acted and dealt with this truly shows how they are willing to throw NSFW creators under the bus the moment it becomes too hard to stand up for them. It wasn’t entirely their fault, but their lack of warning, care, or transparency shows that they don’t really have NSFW creators’ backs.

Another thing that I think is worth bringing up is anti-censorship. In the wake of this, I’ve seen a lot more people be vocal about anti-censorship, and I just want to make my stance on this clear. I am 100% for anything and everything fictional existing. As long as no REAL PERSON was harmed in the making of the content, I think it deserves to exist. I might not like it, I might not want to read it, and all fiction is open to criticism, but I have no right to decide what does and doesn’t deserve to exist, especially as a writer who often includes taboo themes in my work.

If that doesn’t sit right with you, I urge you to unfollow me, block me, whatever you need to do to protect your space. But going forward, I will be very loud and vocal if I see censorship happening, because this has directly affected a large portion of the queer indie community. It has its roots in fascism, and we need to start protecting free speech more loudly.

If you can, call and email the payment processor companies and complain to them. Calls are more effective, and trying to keep representatives on the phone for as long as you can is important to clog up the companies’ phone lines. Tell them why it’s important to you to be able to access whatever you want on the internet regardless of what it is. Here is a great list of the payment processors, how to contact them, as well as other important information and action steps you can take.
https://yellat.money/

Where I’ll Be Going Forward

For now, I’ve restricted all of my work to previous purchasers, pending me working to get them removed entirely from itch.io’s site. I don’t feel comfortable having taboo books on there, as well as books that contain elements of consent play, even if they somehow fly under the radar and I avoid my books or account being deleted. If you’ve purchased any of my books through itch.io, please go download them now, because I’m not sure when they’ll be reviewing my account, or if they already have. If you cannot find them, I would be more than happy to send you another file, either ePub or PDF.

I’ve moved the entirety of my catalogue to a Payhip storefront for now! Because the payment processors and websites are punishing us for being very upfront with our content warnings, I’ve also made them available in a downloadable file that’s free on that store. Right now, that’s the best option for highest royalties, and they provide instant payment as well (with itch I’d have to wait 3 to 4 weeks typically to get payments).
You can find it here: https://payhip.com/marsadler

My books that comply with Amazon’s TOS are also still up there, in ebook and paperback format—as well as audiobook for First Creation. This is currently the only place I have paperbacks available. You can find it here: https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B0CB2VHKF9

I am working on getting my draft2digital account ready, I’m waiting on them to approve my tax and payment information, and then my taboo/non-Amazon complying books will be up on Smashwords as well, and will link it in my carrd whenever I get confirmation that I’m all set to sell through Smashwords.

Because there’s no promise that these works won’t get taken down if these websites also come under scrutiny, I’m also working on a website. There’s still always the problem of the payment processors themselves, but it’s much more secure on a personal website.

2-year Publishing Anniversary Sale

Tomorrow is my 2-year publishing anniversary with FIRST CREATION on Amazon! I cannot believe how fast time flies. It truly has been an incredible two years, and thank you to everyone who has read my books and supported me. Despite all of my wild hopes and dreams, I don’t think that realistically I planned to be making any steady income from writing, and yet I am! Despite the setbacks with itch.io, I’m still so thrilled with my progress and where I am!

I was planning to host this on itch.io as both a sale and a bundle, but since I have since moved my work away from there, I’m hosting just a 50% off sale on Payhip! 6 of my works—minus my latest release—are available between today and July 31st.

Again, you can find that here! https://payhip.com/marsadler 

Here are the books that are included:

Thank you

Thank you again for supporting me and my work, especially in this exceedingly scary time where I’m in upheaval and looking for a new home for my books. I have no doubt that until the root of the problem is taken care of, this will continue and get worse, but since we are here now, thank you for being here.

<3 mars