As it's been previously mentioned, it appears the pressure comes from MasterCard and Visa.<p>Can someone please tell me why we're letting payment processors control what kind of content we're allowed to pay for when tech giants are under near constant scrutiny for their moderation of user-generated content?
Wow, main stream society doesn't want to associate with a company that harbors extremists. I'm shocked.<p>So many commenters on this are jumping to a slippery slope fallacy as if Stripe has any moral imperative to uphold free speech. They are a private company and have their own reasons to disassociate from any client they wish. That is their prerogative, and as long as they are not discriminating against anything that is a federally protected class (and last I checked, hosting porn is not federally protected) they can cut off services to anyone.
I'm struggling to find it, but there was a hackernews comment thread about NSFW payment processor alternatives to Stripe (which is pretty strict about NSFW content). Higher fees, though, of course.
Similar thing happened to me. STRIPE closed me at their discretion and yet my direct competitors are using Stripe (they've since asked me back but I declined, too risky).<p>One thing Stripe cited was their underwriting FI wouldn't allow it. IIRC that FI was Wells Fargo, we my company has had a happy relationship since we started five years ago.
I did checked GAB's site and I can confirm that this place was full of racism and hateful comments towards anyone who believe their ideas. I honestly think you can get your message across without being a dick. Someone else here mentioned these guys promote "freedom of hate", I think that's very close to reality.<p>Downvote me all you want, but you can check for yourself, this is just a white supremacist cave.<p>Don't believe their freed of speech crap they promote.
Hey guys,<p>CEO of Gab.com here.<p>Here is our full response to Stripe:<p>Hello Stripe Support,<p>To our knowledge no one is using GabTV to specifically livestream adult content and certainly not charging to access this live content because that is not possible on Gab. Can you please cite any specific examples for our review if you have discovered any? Currently only GabPro accounts can livestream content, but Gab native video uploading can be used by anyone including free version users. I think you may be conflating GabTV livestreaming with Gab native video uploading. Further, anyone can view and access any native video or livestreaming content for free on Gab without processing any payments through Stripe or anyone else. We do not offer any form of "exclusive" video unlocking access features via GabPro.<p>Secondly, we have several protocols and user guidelines in place to prevent any illegal activity on the site. We work with law enforcement regularly and see to it that any illegal content is reported to the proper agencies. We also have several technical features in place such as PhotoDNA to scan for and report any illegal content, machine learning systems that detect nudity which is not properly labeled NSFW, and user guidelines that require any adult content to be marked as Not Safe For Work; which is a setting that is on by default for all users and public-facing links. Both our User Guidelines and our GabPro Content Creator Agreement state that we do not allow any illegal activity on our service.<p>We believe these guidelines and our user agreements already cover what your own guidelines require and we will certainly take action on any offending accounts if you can point us to specific violating examples. We will also work to add improved reporting features to GabTV videos to make it easier for users to flag this content in the future.<p>We are happy to jump on a call if it is easier to discuss because some of your requests are not clear. For example your demand that we remove all adult content from the entire site, which is a bit unreasonable considering the many technical and user guidelines we have in place to ensure the specific Stripe guideline you cite is not violated and that no illegal activity is happening on the site.<p>Please advise<p>Andrew Torba
CEO, Gab.com<p>PS HN: We release our API today. Hit me up if you want to build something cool: andrew@gab.com <a href="https://developers.gab.com/" rel="nofollow">https://developers.gab.com/</a>
Why was Andrew Torba's comment (on this thread) - the CEO of Gab and subject of this discussion - downvoted and already censored ('dead') ? Absurd.<p><a href="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DooMz4QV4AEEuv4.jpg:large" rel="nofollow">https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DooMz4QV4AEEuv4.jpg:large</a><p>Here is the link to his comment if you wish to reply:<p><a href="https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18136380" rel="nofollow">https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18136380</a><p>And make sure you turn on 'showdead' in your settings otherwise miss key comments like this.
Is there a slope to where everyone is a neo-nazi equivalent though? I realize these are not likable people, but at the same time slurs are thrown around these days at many undeserving groups.<p>It's a tough call: I don't want to see losers abuse a private company's terms of service, nor do I want to see businesses be constantly virtue-signalling.<p>Virtue-signalling is itself a dirty business: how long 'til we see the neo-communists (or whatever, you choose) who happily sell Che shirts on Stripe?
This is fucked up. I hate that companies are dictating culture. I get that this is really visa and MasterCard but god I can’t wait for online payments to be a solved problem.