Written by Flamecaster, edited by Otaku Apologist
Donation website Ko-fi suspends adult content creators due to guidelines from its payment providers.
Ko-fi is an online website for various content creators which allows them to instill a donation button on their websites. This allows their visitors to simply and easily make a small donation with a personalized message. Additionally, Ko-fi comes with its own simple page, on which artist may post and receive messages or host a gallery that can be either public or limited to supporters. The main difference between Ko-fi and Patreon is that the service works as a tip jar, rather than a subscription for supporters, while making its revenue from an optional subscription available to the artists’ themselves.
Since August 16th 2018, Ko-fi has turned its back on creators of adult content, suspending their pages either in part or fully, by making them invisible to viewers. Such unpublished accounts can only regain publicity if their owners delete all works referring to pornography, including nudity alone. This applies to all forms of art, whether drawn, written, or recorded, and even extends to content of linked websites. While Ko-fi offers an NSFW filter tag, it is meant for use with ecchi and potentially offensive content. It does not allow to circumvent restrictions introduced with this change in policy.
Strictly Prohibited Adult Content
Ko-fi cannot be used as the venue for sexually explicit or Adult themed content this includes, but is not limited to;
– Pornography, nudity, depictions of rape, incest, bestiality and any
other adult or obscene content including implied, suggested or censored
in any form such as;
– literature
– imagery (including illustrative)
– videos
– links to external sites or content containing such material
– Sexual services such as prostitution, escorts, pay-per view, adult live chat features
Ko-fi has claimed that this change was necessary to appease their payment providers. The donation service works by transferring money to the artist’s PayPal and Stripe accounts. For a long time, PayPal has prohibited using their accounts for transactions related to the nebulous “certain sexually oriented materials or services.” Meanwhile, the online payment service Stripe completely disallows usage pertaining to adult content and services, including “pornography and other obscene material” in any form of media.
Neither PayPal nor Stripe have had any major changes in their policy that would pertain to adult content, making the supposedly enforced change in Ko-fi’s stance on the subject surprising. Both artists and users of the website began to voice their dissatisfaction, criticizing the service for not disassociating itself with their user’s content through better filters instead. On Twitter, many of them promise to transfer to Patreon as an alternative.
You can read in detail about the changes in Ko-fi’s policy in their official article.
