Update: Yes, Stripe is Lying

About not allowing "adult" products or services...

I’m posting this short update to make it explicit that Stripe is lying. They say they won’t process payments for (among other things):

Pornography and other mature audience content (including literature, imagery, and other media) designed for the purpose of sexual gratification

Any artificial-intelligence generated content that meets the above criteria

This is a lie. They do process payments for that and they do it a lot.

Stripe is the payment processor for all the sites that I use to create mature audience content. Some of the content these sites will create for you can definitely be called pornographic (just ask their models to do it).

That is: Stripe is processing payments for all these companies that allow me to create the “adult” content Stripe wants to ban me for.

Stripe also processes payments for Venice.ai, a major site that offers fully uncensored AI sex-chat with hundreds of AI characters. This service is very obviously designed for the purpose of sexual gratification.

Stripe has no issue processing payments for these companies, and they’re the ones I know of. Stripe makes a great deal of money processing those payments. My guess is that’s the tip of the iceberg. (Stripe is bigger than I first thought they were.)

Now imagine what would happen if Stripe “banned” one or more of these companies. They’d simply find another payment processer. And maybe tell their colleagues Stripe is a pack of assholes and to take their business elsewhere.

And then where would Stripe be? Down the shithole they belong in, is my guess.

So (I believe) Stripe is not going to do that.

Stripe is not against “adult” content. They are not “cracking down” on “adult” content.

They are “cracking down” on individual creators.

No one else.

We do not have a voice they feel can threaten them. We don’t have tons of money and armies of lawyers. We deal with Stripe as individuals, who they feel they can ignore with impunity.

I don’t know if we can fix that. It’s not a simple thing to do and we don’t have a lot of allies.

But I think we should stop saying Stripe is against erotic content. That invites the response they are allowed to be against erotic content, if they choose to be. Some people think that’s a good thing (being against erotic content).

Stripe not against erotica.

Stripe is only against us—the individual creator.

Big difference. I think we should try to drive that home.

That’s my rendition of the Goddess Nemesis. More about her someday.

Now, let’s leave this downer about Stripe being lying sacks of shit and go enjoy this Incredibly Awesome New Video by the Magical Riley Rose!!!