The popular doujinshi site, DLsitehas recently announced the suspension of the use of American Express cards on its platform. This measure is in addition to the previously announced restrictions for cards MasterCard and VISA earlier this month. The decision to discontinue these payment options has apparently been made due to the refusal of these financial companies to be associated with hentai content distributed on DLsite.
Notably, DLsite had attempted to mitigate this situation by changing the terms of certain popular hentai doujinshi genres, such as “lolis” and others, in an attempt to appease pressure from financial companies. However, these measures did not achieve the desired result, which has led the platform to lose these services.
Also, a week ago DLsite had notified its creators that they would replace or hide certain expressions used on the platform in response to requests from credit card companies. DLsite decided to grant the request, since more than half of the transactions on its platform were made by credit card. The decision was announced only to creators registered on the site, but soon gained attention on social networks due to the sarcastic nature of the “censorship” implemented.
This new restriction means that now only bank cards issued in Japan can be used within the platformwhich presents a significant obstacle for overseas fans wishing to purchase content on DLsite.
This latest development highlights the tactics multinational companies use to try to control the hentai doujinshi industry and adult content in general. The pressure exerted by these financial entities on adult content platforms has been the subject of debate in the doujinshi community, as it directly affects the availability and accessibility of content for consumers.
The situation at DLsite highlights the complexity of the relationship between creative freedom and censorship, as well as the challenges that adult content platforms face in an environment regulated by financial companies with restrictive policies. The news of the suspension of American Express cards highlights the importance of this issue in the doujinshi industry and its implications for the creators and consumers of this type of content.
It’s important to note that DLsite is not the only Japanese platform that has run into trouble with credit card companies for hosting hentai content., since similar cases have occurred with DMM, Fanza, Niconico and Skeb. Art commission service Skeb responded to these types of requests by introducing payment through its own crypto asset Skeb Coin in June 2022.
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