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curl-6 1 day ago
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firebush03 said:
curl-6 said:

Google had no problem hosting it before; the only thing that changed was that authoritarians pressured them to do so.

The people who are pushing this agenda of banning and censoring anything they deem immoral are lobbying every storefront to follow Google's lead, their goal is for it to be banned from sale everywhere, from Steam to Switch to Playstation. Google simply caved first.

They're also lobbying governments and politicians to ban them entirely under the guise of "think of the children". In my country many websites are already being blocked as part of this push. 

“authoritarians” sounds a little vague. Could you by chance specify who these “authoritarians” are? Also, I’m not arguing that businesses should be “banning and censoring anything they deem immoral.” All I’m saying is that private entities should have the right to not promote products as they so please. Are you suggesting that the government step in and ban businesses from excluding products on their storefronts?

Sounds a lot like “It’s not okay to ban things I like, but I am okay with banning things I don’t like”— for instance, I don’t believe you would’ve been too upset if this was a game featuring child p0rnography. Nor if it was a game which promoted harmful ideologies such as rejection of the holocaust. But because it was surrounding a matter which you personally didn’t find worthy of a ban (which TBH I don’t see too much issue with wanting to suppress a product on your own storefront which showcases such an aggressive perspective on a topic as sensitive as suicide), all the sudden it’s an issue.

Note: I won’t respond beyond this message. Online discourse is kinda a waste when it devolves into debate. You aren’t gonna convince either side, and that’s kinda just how it is. I would love to hear a thoughtful, open response to my remarks here… perhaps I can be swayed to continue chatting. :)

Collective Shout are one example of a lobbyist actively pushing for game censorship; last year they instigated a purge of adult games on Steam through pressuring Visa and Mastercard to block payments: https://thatparkplace.com/visa-and-mastercard-are-reportedly-censoring-video-games-alongside-australian-activist-group-collective-shout/

Plenty of politicians have also taken aim at adult games under the guise of "protecting kids."

We're not talking about child porn being banned here, this is a game that's been hosted on major storefronts without issue since 2017 and it was never a problem before.