Kickstarter Reverts Controversial Ban On ‘NSFW’ Projects But Says Stripe ‘Can Still Suspend’ Approved Campaigns

Last week, crowdfunding platform Kickstarter

Editorial callout

"made some questionable updates to its “Rules” guidelines"

, prohibiting several forms of NSFW content, including “implied sex acts,” sexually “derogatory” themes, “photo-realistic” nudity, and, perhaps most bizarrely, “MILF/DILF” stuff. Oh, and “buttocks.” At the time, creators assumed the blame lay with Stripe, Kickstarter’s payment processor. It sounded awfully similar to

Steam and Itch.io’s payment-processor-driven NSFW purge

Today, Kickstarter has reverted the restrictive NSFW rules it had previously put in place, and, in a

titled “An Apology: Rethinking Our Mature Content Guidelines,” has outright confirmed that the “botched” guidelines were “primarily driven by requirements from [Kickstarter’s] payments processor, Stripe.”

“Stripe operates under its own legal and compliance requirements separate from Kickstarter’s own rules,” stated Kickstarter’s Chief Operating Officer, Sean Leow. “And even Stripe’s rules are dictated by a larger system shaped by financial institutions that govern how money moves globally. Under this system, many platforms – including other crowdfunding and creator monetization platforms – struggle with how to create space for mature content while getting the creators of that work paid without friction.”

Leow also noted that, as detailed in

article, several Kickstarter-approved projects have subsequently been “suspended” by Stripe due to said compliance requirements: “Over the past several months, we’ve seen a growing number of campaigns that had already been approved by Kickstarter get suspended by Stripe mid-funding. When that happens, it’s devastating. A creator’s project can be frozen with funds in limbo, sometimes weeks into a campaign they’ve spent months, or even years, building.”

For now, Kickstarter has reverted to its previous guidelines that merely “prohibit pornography and illegal content,” but Leow made a point of noting that the newly reverted guidelines now, once again, mean that “Stripe can still suspend a campaign that Kickstarter has approved.” However, the “Rules” page does include a small update: a link titled “Stripe’s Prohibited and Restricted Business List.”