mango7283 (u/mango7283)

mango7283 commented on Mastercard deflects blame for NSFW games being taken down pcgamer.com/games/masterc... · Posted by u/croes

nemomarx · 21 days ago

I'm pretty sure child pornography is actually illegal in all jurisdictions valve operates in, and they would be charged with real crimes for selling it. Maybe you mean anime characters or something?

And is there any law about roleplaying rape? It's common in romance novels and online videos so I don't see how it could be illegal.

mango7283 · 20 days ago

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Castillo_v._Texas

Lest we forget.

Sure in the end people rallied to him but it sure must have sucked.

But yeah. Texas.

mango7283 commented on Mastercard deflects blame for NSFW games being taken down pcgamer.com/games/masterc... · Posted by u/croes

nottorp · 21 days ago

By the way:

https://www.amazon.com/Streetcar-Named-Desire-Blu-ray/dp/B07...

Why is Mastercard processing money for this movie that contains a rape scene?

mango7283 · 20 days ago

Because it's a critically acclaimed movie that will draw defenders if it's banned now. If the activists went all in right away they'll lose and they know it

Same deal with GTA and GOT

mango7283 commented on Australia widens teen social media ban to YouTube, scraps exemption reuters.com/legal/litigat... · Posted by u/Brajeshwar

upboundspiral · a month ago

I would like to note that I am probably grossly unqualified to talk about such topics, but one idea that I've had rolling around is that inevitably, if you ask people "should kids be able to watch/read/be exposed to [insert adult thing here]" they will inevitably say no of course not. I feel like this is pretty reasonable. For advocates of privacy to succeed I believe that they will need to not just oppose censorship on a global scale, but provide solutions. One thing that technology has not changed is the unit of human relations. From foster care to single or two parents, the idea of a family is still there in society. In my opinion, this group is greatly underserved, and I do not believe it is enough to say "its the parents responsibility" to curate content. That is a full time job. Now, I will be the first to say that children do not at all need to have a smarphone/ipad/etc until they are in their teens, restricting all technology use can be hard. There needs to be tools that allow parents to choose what their children are allowed to be exposed to. Some parents will choose complete freedom, some will choose some "censorship." But I believe the power should rest in the hands of the parents, and I am strongly opposed to the government dictating this choice. I believe one thing the government can be good at is enforcing standards and providing reference implementations that would allow such curation to be possible. Imagine if you walk into an Apple store and say you are buying a phone for your child, and they tell you: would you like a side of censorship with that? Or if companies like youtube that are a platform with children would need to provide a means for them to be curated, for channels and features to be blocked, etc. I am not sure if what I am proposing is the right way forward but I would love to see governments tackle this problem of giving power back to the parents, instead of seeing governments attempt to enforce their worldviews onto others. I am also interested in how there would a handoff, from a "child-friendly" internet to a fully uncensored one within families. I believe that outright rejecting censorship of what children can access will do nothing to assuage the fears of people that do not want their children accessing random websites, and that a solution that keeps the power in the hands of the people and not the government is needed.

mango7283 · a month ago

I think a practical problem with this is that even if you offer this tech you will inevitably get groups of parents insisting the government use this power enforce their values on the other parents as a matter of course. We see this already with the erosion of cultural norms for free speech.

mango7283 commented on Steam, Itch.io are pulling ‘porn’ games. Critics say it's a slippery slope wired.com/story/steam-itc... · Posted by u/6d6b73

BlueTemplar · a month ago

They already suceeded in getting GTA5 banned in a bunch of stores.

mango7283 · a month ago

Yeah, but not yet from Steam. Anyway the point is, people keep bringing up "why don't they go after GTA and GOT instead of fringe eroge" so, yeah, one - they have but it was a partial success at best - they aren't ready or able to make that leap YET.

mango7283 commented on Steam, Itch.io are pulling ‘porn’ games. Critics say it's a slippery slope wired.com/story/steam-itc... · Posted by u/6d6b73

superkuh · a month ago

Have you heard of a television show called "Game of Thrones". It featured live actors, real humans with human bodies, acting out representations of incest and rape. And positive representations at that. It was a worldwide phenomenon and hundreds of millions of people probably watched it. It's still available to buy and sell GoT and related merchandise and payment providers don't bat an eye.

Video games don't even involve actual human bodies like GoT does. It's crazy that "Collective Shout" thinks this is worth invoking violence and violating peoples volition for. Certainly not consistent with all other aspects of entertainment in society. Makes me think there are probably other fame, power and money motivations behind their behavior. But it doesn't explain people agreeing with them. That's the weirdest part of this.

mango7283 · a month ago

"It was a worldwide phenomenon and hundreds of millions of people probably watched it." - this is what explains why GOT is not the one getting taken down. Collective Shout is picking battles it can win.

mango7283 commented on Steam, Itch.io are pulling ‘porn’ games. Critics say it's a slippery slope wired.com/story/steam-itc... · Posted by u/6d6b73

flumpcakes · a month ago

And that game is still available. Hardly evidence that payment providers are targeting all 'NSFW' or adult games.

mango7283 · a month ago

I think what that tells you is that there are still limits to what collective shout is able to do, hence why GTA is still for sale but the fringe porn games aren't

mango7283 commented on Steam, Itch.io are pulling ‘porn’ games. Critics say it's a slippery slope wired.com/story/steam-itc... · Posted by u/6d6b73

cosmic_cheese · a month ago

No problems with violent imagery in TV and cinema either. In fact some of the most popular shows and movies are full of it.

Not that I agree with censoring that (I don’t), but the double standard is puzzling.

mango7283 · a month ago

You answered your own question - if you go after shows with the popularity of game of thrones or games with the popularity of grand theft auto you will fail.

They have picked their battle.

mango7283 commented on Steam, Itch.io are pulling ‘porn’ games. Critics say it's a slippery slope wired.com/story/steam-itc... · Posted by u/6d6b73

williamscales · a month ago

A lot of the moralizing pressure groups are also against sexual content on TV (at least historically they have been).

One of the slippery slopes here would be that initially they go after smaller players and then work their way up. Would they ultimately go after Amazon or Warner Bros? It’s not totally clear to me that they wouldn’t.

mango7283 · a month ago

I said this on the other thread, it's obvious they don't yet have the clout to go after big titles like GoT or GTA yet, and it would be a losing strategy for them to do so. Hence why they are going after battles they can win first.

mango7283 commented on Tell HN: Online Safety Act to be enforced in the UK on July 25th · Posted by u/trycatchthroawy

aosaigh · a month ago

> Over seven in 10 (71%) feel that the measures overall will make a positive difference to children’s safety online, while over three-quarters (77%) are optimistic that age checks specifically will keep children safer.

What do UK parents here on HN think? I'm interested to hear the difference between the sentiments expressed by the "public" and more-technical parents here on HN.

mango7283 · a month ago

Half the time I see parents on HN crow about how they've blocked their kids access to social media and screens. I'm not sure where they will stand on porn. Would be interesting to see

mango7283 commented on Valve confirms credit card companies pressured it to delist certain adult games pcgamer.com/software/plat... · Posted by u/freedomben

jncfhnb · a month ago

The argument seems centered on content though.

BG3 is fairly tame. Outlast trials has you mutilate genitals and has people threatening to rape you frequently.

mango7283 · a month ago

If you think they should delist it then by all means, raise a petition or bring it to their attention. Perhaps the activist group simply has not had the resources to target this particular title yet.

You already know VISA and/or Mastercard will respond if an activist group raises enough of a concern so what's stopping you?

Ah right, you think if they got one game removed on a petition, they should somehow also be able to remove every single other game that may or may not meet the same criteria even though it probably took them significant effort to the the first game removed and this is some sort of "gotcha" on their moral inconsistency rather than a simple limitation of resources to try to get their will done all at once?