- United States
- Ohio
- Letter
I am writing to urge you to support antitrust action and regulatory oversight against Mastercard and Visa for their outsized control over digital payments and their growing role in moralistic censorship—especially targeting adult content creators, artists, LGBTQ+ communities, and consumers at large.
Mastercard’s and Visa's recent policies, in line with rhetoric from the Republican Party's agenda, have made it nearly impossible for many adult content creators to earn a living online. These restrictions disproportionately harm marginalized workers, including LGBTQ+ and disabled sex workers, who rely on online platforms for safe, independent income. These rules also affect queer artists, indie developers, and fans of adult-themed video games and comics, as platforms are forced to over-censor or outright ban content that doesn't align with Mastercard's vague and conservative standards.
This form of corporate control is chilling and dangerous. It is not the role of payment processors to police expression or dictate which legal art, services, or media consumers are allowed to access. Mastercard and Visa together form an effective duopoly, with the power to pressure platforms like OnlyFans, Patreon, and game storefronts like Steam and Itch.io into submission.
These companies use their monopoly power not just to drive up fees, but to act as unelected moral arbiters over our culture and digital lives.
Congress must act to rein in these monopolies and protect the rights of consumers and creators. I ask you to:
1. Support and introduce antitrust legislation aimed at reducing Mastercard and Visa’s market dominance and abusive control over financial access.
2. Publicly demand that Mastercard repeal its current policies targeting adult content, and prohibit payment processors from imposing vague content standards on legal speech.
3. Promote financial access for marginalized creators, especially sex workers and LGBTQ+ individuals, who are routinely deplatformed or denied income due to discrimination masked as "brand safety."
The freedom to create, earn a living, and access legal content should not be dictated by private corporations acting as gatekeepers of morality. We need real protections, real alternatives, and real regulation.
Please take a stand.