• FerretyFever0@fedia.io
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    3 months ago

    Here’s something I’ve noticed. Whenever someone describes a group, individual, activity, or anything else with more than 2 negative adjectives in a row, they’re probably saying something deeply unstable. This is one of those times.

  • InfiniteHench@lemmy.world
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    3 months ago

    I like how the language is ‘claims responsibility.’ You know. Like terrorist groups do after an attack

  • Bronzebeard@lemmy.zip
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    3 months ago

    Hold up, all this shit because of an extremist group, *in Australia, where half the M games on the market already can’t be sold, is driving global payment processor behavior?!?

    • Elvith Ma'for@feddit.org
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      3 months ago

      Hold up, all this shit because of an extremist group

      🌍👨‍🚀🔫👨‍🚀 always has been

    • LainTrain@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      3 months ago

      Those are pretty well known TERFs in Australia, I’ve not heard of them in the context of anti-porn shite before though that tracks for TERFs generally, but it’s a safe assumption they’re also probably pretty well connected with the worst people in the US gov-corp ecosystem.

      • sepi@piefed.social
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        3 months ago

        Follow the lesser amount of money they’ll be making or did you knee-jerk this response?

  • Zozano@aussie.zone
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    3 months ago

    Collective Shout claim it’s about harm reduction, but then push an agenda that functionally amounts to moral panic.

    Their approach is identical in logic to the “GTA causes school shootings” hysteria: loud, pearl-clutching, and utterly unmoored from data.

    If Collective Shout want to argue these games cause harm, then show us the harm. Not correlation. Not outrage. Not hypothetical downstream consequences. Show causation. Peer-reviewed. Reproducible.

    Otherwise, they’re just moralizing bullies using the banking system as a cudgel.

    On top of this, they might actually be harming their own cause. The catharsis hypothesis poses that sexual fantasy enactment might reduce risk of real world harm.

    The logic is simple: suppressing a compulsion doesn’t eliminate it. It just bottles up until it explodes. Redirect it into a safe outlet, and it becomes manageable.

    The only reason this research isn’t cited more often is because it’s politically radioactive. Nobody wants to admit that it’s better to let a gooners jerk off, than to escalate under repression.

    The burden of proof SHOULD be on Collective Shout to provide a reasonable argument which supports their claim that censorship will reduce real world harm.

    Current working theory in psychology: it doesn’t. Emerging theory suggests: they’re shooting themselves (and potential rape victims) in the foot.

    The real solution to real-world harm involves empathy, autonomy and education.

    • Zozano@aussie.zone
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      3 months ago

      Furthermore…

      Their decision to target the payment processors - not the developers, or itch.io, or steam, is some of the most cowardly and authoritarian things I’ve ever seen in the gaming space.

      It’s economic coercion; a playbook used by religious bigots and authoritarians for decades. Financial censorship by proxy. IMO: they should fuck off.

      • Zozano@aussie.zone
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        3 months ago

        Even Furthermore…

        Wanna censor it? Good fucking idea /s

        Shoving that shit into the shadows doesn’t make it go away, it just makes it untraceable, unmoderated, and unaccountable.

        If you care even remotely about preventing harm, you don’t force taboo communities off the grid. You keep them where they can be seen, tracked, and contained… preferably behind legal firewalls, age gates, and content filters.

        If you push them into the dark web… then congratulations… you’ve just built a Petri dish for escalation, radicalization, and actual predation.

    • aceshigh@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      We have examples today of the real harm of this, like in Afghanistan. It’s interesting that western societies are overall less religious as ever, yet religion keeps getting shoved down our throats… and winning.

      • QueenHawlSera@sh.itjust.works
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        3 months ago

        If I’m not mistaken it’s not a religious group doing it because Jesus, it’s a feminist group doing it because they blame porn for the existence of transpeople

  • palordrolap@fedia.io
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    3 months ago

    This whole thing smacks of the “anyone who has a sexual proclivity I claim not to share must have all sexual proclivities I claim not to share” logic. i.e. the logic that got gay people flagged as child molesters back in the bad old days. And occasionally still today.

    Such logic might actually be rooted in projection, which is a deeply disturbing thought. Deeply closeted people desperately clinging to heteronormativity and traditional gender roles because they think that if they don’t they they’ll do something abhorrent. Maybe even to someone who can’t consent. Or they already have and they desperately want to hide away from it.

    Yes, for the love of all that’s holy and secular too, ban the games with apparent child sexual abuse. Children can’t consent. Leave everything else the hell alone.

    I don’t even play video games with sexual themes, but I do play ones that contain 18+ violence. I assume those will be next on the chopping block.

      • youmaynotknow@lemmy.zip
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        3 months ago

        Sponsored by Visa 🤔

        Thanks for saying it. What kind of fucking parent puts their kids on display in an event that will invite actual pedophiles to start actual concoctions that would cause permanent harm on them? Ah, but fictitious media that may actually help keep those urges in check needs to be removed.

        And then there’s the bullshit thought that a service that serves as a replacement for cash transactions can decide what I buy?

        I need to get off of this fucking world.

    • FerretyFever0@fedia.io
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      3 months ago

      Digital violence causes school shootings, don’t you know? Ignore the non-American rates, they don’t matter.

  • Zorsith@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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    3 months ago

    Tbh, its only a matter of time before the entire organization gets doxxed and the internet does what it does.

    I look forward to eating popcorn when it happens.

  • Fredselfish@lemmy.world
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    3 months ago

    Someone should check this groups computer ls and closets because they are projecting and those fuckers should have no impact on what us Americans or any other country wants to buy. This needs to be reversed Asap.

  • A_Random_Idiot@lemmy.world
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    3 months ago

    Are we wagering this absurdity is built on projection?

    cause I’m wagering this absurdity is built on them projecting.

    • Salamanderwizard@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      It always is. These are the type of folks who have that feeling of shame wash over after they bust a nut to something they “despise.”

      That literally all these types of groups are. They want us to feel the same shame, too. I wish folks could just keep their shit to themselves. Have rules for your own home, sure, but eat shit and rot if you think you should be able to tell me how I should live my life.

  • FerretyFever0@fedia.io
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    3 months ago

    Oml, trying to ban Eminem and Snoop Dogg from Australia? Really? Fuck did Eminem actually do in the last 15 years? Snoop, never really listened to him, can’t think of anything he did (in relation to women). They managed to stop Tyler, the Creator from touring in 2015? They’re doing the dumbest shit. Going after sexualization of women isn’t going to help any actual problems. Pathetic.

    • real_squids@sopuli.xyz
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      3 months ago

      Judging from their description (“pro-life feminists”) I bet they’re using objectification as a cover to push their regressive ideals. When it comes to rap there’s a disproportionate amount of hate towards it from these people, could be as simple as that.

      • FerretyFever0@fedia.io
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        3 months ago

        Of course. I’ve listened to quite a bit of Eminem, more than is reasonable. There’s like 5 songs that I’d say were actually that crazy, mostly about his wife, and mostly 20+ years ago. I’d say it’s probably something to do with racism, actually hating rap usually does.

        • QueenHawlSera@sh.itjust.works
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          3 months ago

          The amount of times I’ve seen Eminem counted as a black artist isn’t common enough to be depressing, but it’s alarmingly more than 0.

  • dan@upvote.au
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    3 months ago

    There’s a few groups like this in Australia, unfortunately.

    Australia didn’t even have an R18+ rating for games until 2013 (R18+ is similar to AO or NC-17 in the USA). Before then, all games with a higher rating than MA15+ were illegal in Australia. Many games had an Australia-specific version with blood/gore reduced, some things edited out, etc. to reduce the rating. The original release of GTA4 in Australia was heavily censored.

  • deathbird@mander.xyz
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    3 months ago

    I truly don’t understand how Visa/MasterCard/etc can be pressured. They are basically infrastructure.

    What’s someone going to do, stop using credit cards if they don’t stop a store that person even patronize from selling morally hazardous goods?

    I don’t get how these campaigns are even effective.

    • MysteriousSophon21@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      They pressure payment processors through reputation damage and regulatory threats - these companies are terrified of being associated with anything that could trigger banking regulations or get them labeled as “enabling” problematic content in the media, its purely a risk management desicion for them.

    • Cocopanda@lemmy.world
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      3 months ago

      Probably just worried Trump will over regulate them if they don’t fall in line with the Christian Radicals.

      • RedFrank24@lemmy.world
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        3 months ago

        That’s because 90% of cryptocurrency marketing consists of “THINK OF THE GAAAAAAINS YOU CAN MAKE!” instead of “You can use this to buy things without government censorship”.

        The entire crypto industry has based itself around being a speculative asset, not a currency.

        • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works
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          3 months ago

          Which is really unfortunate. If you avoid the most popular coins (Bitcoin, Ethereum, etc), you avoid most of the scams and speculation and end up with a decent currency that respects your privacy and has low fees.

    • plyth@feddit.org
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      3 months ago

      Supposedly there was a ruling in California that made them responsible.

  • DaddleDew@lemmy.world
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    3 months ago

    The best part is that for the article Valve supplied a picture of Blue Scout standing speechless in front of pornographic pictures of his mom, as the punch line of one of the best “your mom” jokes of all time.

  • Ech@lemmy.ca
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    3 months ago

    Anyone have a guess as to why these companies don’t just cut off the country being used to spearhead these attempts? Like, half the popular games are blocked already. And setting this precedent will likely lead to further fuckery in the future. Is Australlia really that profitable that it’s worth the current and future hassle?