Kickstarter rolls back its mature content policy after outcry - Engadget

"Kickstarter has retracted the new set of rules around mature content that it released last week, following an outcry from creators whose campaigns are affected by the change. While the platform still allowed "romance and spicy literature, including comics" under that policy, it enforced stricter rules around pornographic and sexually explicit content. Now, Kickstarter has admitted that the response it got from its community let it know "loud and clear" that the crowdfunding platform got it wrong, so it's going back to its previous rules."

"Kickstarter explained in its announcement that it updated its policy because of Stripe, its payment processor that operates under its own set of rules. Kickstarter explained that over the past few months, it has seen a growing number of campaigns that it had already approved get suspended by Stripe mid-funding due to their nature. The platform would advocate for affected creators whenever that happened, and it was able to get Stripe to unfreeze their funds and to continue accepting money on their behalf so they could finish their campaigns."

"However, Kickstarter wasn't always successful in getting Stripe's decision reversed. It thought that the best path forward was to "close the gap" between its rules and Stripe's so that creators would only have one set of rules to deal with. "That was the intent, but the decision we made was an abandonment of the core counterculture, f*ck the establishment spirit of Kickstarter, and it left our community vulnerable," it wrote in its post."

"Under its previous rules, which have now been reinstated, pornography and illegal content are still prohibited. But the rules are less restrictive, as they're more "bare bones and not as specific." Kickstarter said that Stripe can still suspend campaigns due to their nature, but it promised to advocate for creators and to help them make adjustments to make their projects acceptable to Stripe."

Kickstarter retracted newly released mature-content rules after creators objected to changes affecting their campaigns. The platform had allowed romance and sexually suggestive literature, including comics, but enforced tighter restrictions on pornographic and sexually explicit material. Kickstarter said community feedback showed the policy was wrong and it would return to earlier rules. The change had been prompted by issues with Stripe, which suspended some already-approved campaigns mid-funding. Kickstarter sometimes persuaded Stripe to unfreeze funds and continue accepting payments, but not always. It aimed to close the gap between its rules and Stripe’s, but acknowledged the decision abandoned Kickstarter’s counterculture spirit and left the community exposed. The reinstated rules prohibit pornography and illegal content while being less specific, and Kickstarter will advocate for creators if Stripe suspends campaigns and help them adjust projects to meet Stripe requirements.

Read at Engadget