Posted in: Comics | Tagged: kickstarter, Pat Shand, stripe

Kickstarter Starts Suspending Crowdfunders Over Content, Blames Stripe

Kickstarter has started suspending crowdfunders over its new mature content guidelines, and blames its payment processor Stripe

Last week, Bleeding Cool reported on major changes at Kickstarter, regarding the types of stories and content they can openly promote on the site, as a result of demands of their payment processor, Stripe. Basically, it seems, anything that some might consider a little bit rude, even if it's censored on the page. So what's happening next?

Luis Torres posted on Facebook after his campaign for Pyro Vixen #1: Smoke & Fire was suspended, after raising $10,592 from 198 backers with 17 days left. He received this message from Kickstarter Trust & Safety saying;

"While we understand this will be frustrating to hear, our third party payments processor, Stripe, has since confirmed that the Glasverse – Pyro Vixen #1: Smoke & Fire project is not supportable as it still contains adult content. Accordingly, the project has since been suspended and cannot be reinstated. If you would like to move forward with another Kickstarter project in the future, it will need to comply with the Mature Content Guidelines. We built a Mature Content Creator Guide that can further help you understand what is allowed and how to set up your project to comply."

Luis posted "Pyro Vixen is Suspended by the pushovers at Kickstarter but be sure to check out campaigns like these NSFW campaigns that are still live. I knew this was going to be a "pick and choose who has to follow the rules" type of deal." You can still see the suspended campaign and judge for yourself. I think it may be the censored bars and texts in the reward and main page.

M.R. Gunn posted "Kickstarter implemented new rules mid-campaign then suspended my already funded project. Stripe strikes again! Unfortunately there's nothing I can do about the suspension. I'm sorry to those that backed my project. This wasn't something I saw coming. Feel free to contact KS about these new rules." You can see the original Succubus Sticket set listing here, which had raised $1491 from 27 backers.

One of those creators, still with a live campaign on Kickstarter, Pat Shand of Wonderland, Grimm Fairy Tales, Destiny NY, Charmed Season 10, Spirit Hunters, Van Helsing, Crossed +100, Family Pets, Hellchild and much more told Bleeding Cool,

"For years, the indie community thrived on Kickstarter as an alternative to the direct market. The comics industry is where it is today, and specifically, my company Space Between Entertainment, is where it is today, because Kickstarter gave us a platform on which to thrive. However, it is important not only to the comics community, but to the health of crowdfunding and freedom of expression, that creators not be censored at the whim of a payment processor."

"Members of my team – myself, Vice President Steve Jay, and Director of Development Ralph Tedesco – met with Kickstarter to glean clarity on the reason behind these guidelines and to urge them to implement an alternate payment processor. We appreciate them taking the time, as always. Our stance, though, is simple: There are changes that make a lot more sense than blanket censorship. An age gate makes sense and should be implemented. Don't want to see a comic for adults? Don't click an age-gated campaign, and you won't see it. No problem. Further, nudity on a campaign page should be reasonably covered, as creators have been doing for years. To extend this by banning even covered/censored nudity, lingerie of all things, and even language is beyond excessive."

"Censorship of the kind we're seeing now creates reasonable fear of a slippery slope. Payment processors are not only afraid of nudity but also of language used by fictional characters. GAME OF THRONES would, as a comic, be considered "adult" and could be – WOULD be – struck down by a payment processor. DEADWOOD? Nope. Al Swearengen says something every thirty seconds that, were it on a public page, could get flagged. "Adult" stories with language and – God forbid! – nudity are at risk, beyond just this change to Kickstarter, and that is a sad state to say the least."

"Our conversation with Kickstarter was productive and we have hopes that they will consider an alternate processor. However, if they do not, and if censorship worsens, there are other platforms on which creators can sell their comics to their growing readership, including their own platforms. Kickstarter has a special place in my heart because of what they've done for the comics industry, and for me personally. My company exists in part because of that site, so I sincerely hope that they can make the changes to their infrastructure to support creators by offering the option of an alternate processor that takes the wild stance of letting adults tell stories for adults."

Patreon, Backertkit, Zoop and more have been stepping up. While comic book creators Mike Wheeler and Mindy Wheeler are promoting their own alternative to Kickstarter, though, sadly, it is not the one a previous creator suggested, called Lickstarter. Instead, it's the more sedate crowdfunding platform title Indie Crowd Fund or ICF. Mike told me "Mindy and I own it. With ICF, it's our goal to bring retailers into crowdfunding and help out the NSFWand indie comics community." And they are taking advantage of the new Kickstarter guidelines. The site states

"As Kickstarter rolls out sweeping new restrictions on mature content imagery, IndieCrowdfund is doubling down on our commitment to adult indie comics and "spicy" creative work — with a payment processor built for it and a platform that won't pull your campaign mid-launch. IndieCrowdfund today reaffirmed its commitment as a home for indie comic and romance creators working in mature content, as Kickstarter rolls out new guidelines that sharply restrict what those creators can publish on its platform. IndieCrowdfund has always supported adult-oriented indie projects as a first-class category — not an exception to be tolerated until a partner bank objects. Romance graphic novels, spicy comics, art books, erotic illustration, mature manga: these projects launch on our platform under the same terms and tools as everything else. The difference comes down to infrastructure. IndieCrowdfund is integrated with DivinityCoin, a payment processor built specifically for the creative work that mainstream card networks increasingly refuse. DivinityCoin's compliance and underwriting are designed around mature content as a core use case, not a special-cased risk. For creators, that translates to the same one-click checkout backers expect anywhere else — with none of the downstream risk of having a funded campaign frozen, restricted, or stripped of its imagery after the fact."

Mike Wolfer, who originally raised the alarm, noted;

"When I logged into Kickstarter today, I was prompted to answer a survey of around 20 questions that ALL had to do with A.I. It said Kickstarter is planning to update its terms regarding A.I., and wanted community feedback on a variety of topics and proposed policies, both pro and con. I'm not saying anything one way or the other right now, but I will say this bears watching. But isn't it quite interesting that this comes RIGHT AFTER a ban on adult material? It's almost as if someone was thinking, "We need to recoup what we're going to lose by prohibiting adult content, so if the community doesn't care, let's allow A.I. projects. But regardless of what the community thinks, if they want to allow it, they'll allow it. THIS BEARS WATCHING."

Alain Viesca posted to Instagram a link to our original article, saying

"This is quite a blow to my and many other peoples business. I recently submitted a new project to kickstarter, and it was refused. And it wasn't even one of the more "spicey" pinup pieces I have done in the past. The sculpt was a nude that was completely covered in smoke, nothing showing and was declines as being too "adult". So much for supporting creative expression on Kickstarter"

Austrian creator Skaav / Julia posted;

"Kickstarter introduced new guidelines for NSFW content. Already funded projects are getting suspended. To hopefully reduce the risk of getting suspended, we updated our campaign visuals (cropped artwork previews and blurred mockups). Full previews are available in our Discord."

As we have seen, crops and blurs may not be enough. Updating…

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