Kickstarter Rolls Back Its Mature Content Policy After Outcry

Kickstarter withdrew the new set of mature content rules it released last week, following an outcry from creators whose campaigns are affected by the change. Although the platform still allows “romantic and spicy literature, including comics,” under this policy it has stricter rules regarding pornographic and sexually explicit content. Now, Kickstarter has admitted that the response it received from its community let it know “loud and clear” that the crowdfunding platform was wrong, so it is reverting to its previous rules.

It explained in its announcement that it updated its policy because of Stripe, its payment processor which operates under its own set of rules. Kickstarter explained that over the past few months, an increasing number of already approved campaigns have been suspended by Stripe mid-funding due to their nature.

The platform would defend affected creators whenever this happened, and it was able to convince Stripe to release their funds and continue accepting money on their behalf so they could complete their campaigns. However, Kickstarter has not always been successful in overturning Stripe’s decision. The company believed the best path forward was to “close the gap” between its rules and those of Stripe so that creators only had one set of rules to manage.

“That was the intention, but the decision we made was an abandonment of fundamental counterculture, a damn establishment spirit of Kickstarter, and it left our community vulnerable,” he wrote in his post.

Under the previous rules, now reinstated, pornography and illegal content are still prohibited. But the rules are less restrictive, because they are “simpler and less specific”. Kickstarter said Stripe can still suspend campaigns due to their nature, but it promised to stand up for creators and help them make adjustments to make their projects acceptable to Stripe. The platform called it an “imperfect temporary solution,” so it may still implement changes regarding mature content in the future.

Kickstarter isn’t the only website affected by payment processor policies. Last year, Steam also began banning games that violate the rules and standards of “payment processors and associated card networks and banks,” which affected titles with adult themes. Years before, credit card companies Mastercard and Visa blocked use of their cards on Pornhub and even cut ties with the advertising arm of the adult website’s parent company, MindGeek.