• Former Japan Prime Minister speaks out on payment processor censorship: ‘I’ll handle it’

    by on July 7, 2025 at 8:18 PM, EDT

    Fumio Kishida

    Former Prime Minister Fumio Kishida responded to a recent statement from free speech advocate Taro Yamada, saying that he would “handle it”.

    Kishida was Prime Minister of Japan from 2021 to 2024, preceding current Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba. In recent months, councilman Taro Yamada has been outspoken about the censorship Japanese content creators are facing due to payment processors dictating content standards while threatening to withhold revenue.

    For those who don’t know, websites on both hemispheres have been effectively coerced by payment processors to restrict the sort of content they’ll allow. This has affected not only platforms in Japan such as Pixiv, but also western sites such as Fansly and Patreon.

    In a more high profile example, game developers who published on Steam in Japan were having their payments allegedly withheld due to the content of their work.

     

    According to Automaton-Media, payment processors are defending their actions by claiming that their decision is based on laws such as the Act on Prevention of Transfer of Criminal Proceeds and the Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Act.

    Over the past few years, Japan has found itself frequently at odds with the international community over what content they permit in fictional works. Critics claim that such works are harmful to women, while supporters note the chilling effect it could have on free speech.


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    A basement-dwelling ogre, Brandon's a fan of indie games and slice of life anime. Has too many games and not enough time.


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