Yamada Taro, a member of the Japanese National Diet has announced his intent to investigate payment processors who are refusing to provide service to Japanese artists.
For years, payment processors have been throwing their weight around to disenfranchise adult content creators based on nebulous standards regarding fictional content. The decision of these payment processors has had a chilling effect on free speech by denying the ability of artists to receive payment for their commissions and products.
According to Yamada Taro, the most recent victim of payment processor censorship has been game creators on Steam, who have had their revenue allegedly frozen by payment processors collaborating with Japanese banks.
今度は銀行による表現規制!?
”日本の銀行が成人向けゲームを排除している”
”銀行による表現規制が行われているのではないか”そのようなご意見・ご質問が複数寄せられています。
具体的には、以下のような問題が発生していると把握しています。日本人・日本企業が、アメリカのValve… pic.twitter.com/w0Bj2hiFDR
— 山田太郎 ⋈(参議院議員・全国比例) (@yamadataro43) January 29, 2025
Now it’s banks censoring freedom of speech?!
“Japanese banks ban adult games”
“Are banks censoring the freedom of expression?”We have received multiple comments and questions like this. Specifically, we are aware of the following issues:
When Japanese people or Japanese companies make profits on Steam, a world-famous game distribution platform operated by the American company Valve Corporation, if the game in question is for adult audiences, their remittances from abroad are rejected by Japanese banks, meaning they are unable to receive the profits.
First of all, if you deal with adult games, you can’t open an account at a Japanese bank.
We have checked with the Financial Services Agency, which has jurisdiction over banking, and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, which has jurisdiction over games, and have begun considering how to respond to this matter.
Translation: Google
Payment processors have not only affected Japanese content creators, but also western ones if their content runs afoul of the opaque decency standards set by Visa, Mastercard, PayPal, etc.
According to Automaton-Media, payment processors are 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.
Regardless, the actions of payment processors have caused problems for content creators on Patreon, DLSite, Pixiv, DeviantArt, and more.