fix: ✏️ correct spelling of Valens' name
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@ -23,13 +23,13 @@ That group's name is **Collective Shout**, founded and lead by Australian politi
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At first glance, campaigning against the sexualization of women and girls reads like a laudable goal. However, the rest of the About page quickly drifts into the typical puritanical rhetoric and seeks to blame the problem on a "pornified" society that allegedly endorses such abuse against women and girls if it can get them off. They deliberately create this bogeyman, once again using children as a front—a pattern common among puritans and right-wing activists pushing for nothing less than strict gender role norms as they see them. Their radical anti-porn stance also classifies pretty much anything LGBTQ+ related as "sexually deviant", further proving that this has nothing to do with protecting women, children or anybody else for that matter. The Venn diagram between these two groups is very much a circle.
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And indeed, *Collective Shout* has the backing of several prominent religious and anti-porn activist groups, as ([now former][velens-bsky]) reporter for VICE, Ana Valens, [writes][archive-vice-collective-shout]:
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And indeed, *Collective Shout* has the backing of several prominent religious and anti-porn activist groups, as ([now former][valens-bsky]) reporter for VICE, Ana Valens, [writes][archive-vice-collective-shout]:
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> On July 11th, Collective Shout [published an open letter][collective-shout-open-letter] to the CEOs behind PayPal, MasterCard, Visa, Paysafe, Discover, and JCB. On the post, Collective Shout includes signatures from executives at such censorship-prone organizations as National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE) and Exodus Cry. Other allies include the anti-porn groups Coalition Against Trafficking in Women and the U.K. org CEASE. Both NCOSE and Exodus Cry have previously encouraged the removal of certain online content they deem harmful, with NCOSE in particular taking a strong focus on Steam.
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>
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> In 2018, NCOSE previously targeted a series of visual novels on Steam, briefly threatening the removal of these titles on Valve's digital storefront. Steam ultimately reversed its decision to ban these games, instead opening the door to adult content on the platform. Since 2018, NCOSE has repeatedly mentioned Steam in its various articles, almost as if the anti-porn organization has been waiting for an opportunity to go viral with a censorship campaign against the platform. Did the group play a pivotal role in pressuring American payment processors to change their policies toward Steam? It's plausible. NCOSE, which originally began as the religious “Morality in Media” organization, is a conservative group based in the U.S.
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[velens-bsky]: https://bsky.app/profile/acvalens.net/post/3lufjdqmhxs2v
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[valens-bsky]: https://bsky.app/profile/acvalens.net/post/3lufjdqmhxs2v
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[archive-vice-collective-shout]: https://web.archive.org/web/20250719204151/https://www.vice.com/en/article/group-behind-steam-censorship-policies-have-powerful-allies-and-targeted-popular-games-with-outlandish-claims/
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[collective-shout-open-letter]: https://www.collectiveshout.org/open-letter-to-payment-processors
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@ -47,22 +47,22 @@ They also maintain close ties with Australia's eSafety Regulator, giving them a
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* [Office of Communications (Ofcom) – United Kingdom](https://www.ofcom.org.uk/home) (Chair)
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* [Online Safety Commission – Fiji](https://onlinesafetycommission.com/)
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*Collective Shout* also, unsurprisingly, doesn't care much to familiarize itself with the subject matter of the games or media it's trying to get banned, as Velens further outlines:
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*Collective Shout* also, unsurprisingly, doesn't care much to familiarize itself with the subject matter of the games or media it's trying to get banned, as Valens further outlines:
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> In 2018, Collective Shout encouraged its supporters to sign a petition to ban [Quantic Dream's *Detroit: Become Human*][collective-shout-detroid-tweet] from sale in Australia, claiming the game features “child abuse and violence against women.” The petition focused on an abusive father's violent behavior toward his housekeeper and daughter in the game. This dynamic, core to the character Kara's story arc, is intended to encourage empathy for the abused woman and child. While it's unclear whether Collective Shout is actively targeting *Detroit: Become Human* in 2025, the removal of such a game would be akin to artistic censorship of material discussing misogynistic abuse against female family members. Targeting the game, in other words, could be considered anti-feminist in intent.
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[collective-shout-detroid-tweet]: https://x.com/CollectiveShout/status/964663931439480834
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A [previous article][archive-vice-collective-shout-2], also by Velens, also questioned the reasoning of *Collective Shout* and the games they target:
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A [previous article][archive-vice-collective-shout-2], also by Valens, also questioned the reasoning of *Collective Shout* and the games they target:
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> Without further proof from Collective Shout on the supposed games in question, it's hard to say whether child or childlike characters existed in *any* of the games targeted by the organization. It's certainly plausible that Collective Shout is disingenuously describing adult anime characters in adult video games as underage.
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Both of Velens' articles are only available in archived form, since VICE operator, Savage Ventures, ordered their removal shortly after they were published, seemingly because Velens was among the first to highlight a connection between Steam's updated rules, the sudden removal of adult games and the involvement of *Collective Shout*, who probably didn't appreciate being challenged the way Velens dared. Velens and other writers [subsequently quit VICE in protest][velens-bsky].
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Both of Valens' articles are only available in archived form, since VICE operator, Savage Ventures, ordered their removal shortly after they were published, seemingly because Valens was among the first to highlight a connection between Steam's updated rules, the sudden removal of adult games and the involvement of *Collective Shout*, who probably didn't appreciate being challenged the way Valens dared. Valens and other writers [subsequently quit VICE in protest][valens-bsky].
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[archive-vice-collective-shout-2]: https://archive.ph/USxe6
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[velens-bsky]: https://aftermath.site/waypoint-quit-steam-vice
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[valens-bsky]: https://aftermath.site/waypoint-quit-steam-vice
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Velens' articles show a clear pattern: *Collective Shout* takes a very shallow and vibes-based approach to targeting games and media for their campaigns. The smallest hint or mention in games and media of the things they are outspoken against is enough to set them off. They don't shy away from ripping things completely out of context and giving it only a very surface-level look and treatment if it furthers their case. Even when the games and media in question aim to make the audience sympathize with the victimized groups *Collective Shout* claims to advocate for, they want that thing nuked from orbit.
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Valens' articles show a clear pattern: *Collective Shout* takes a very shallow and vibes-based approach to targeting games and media for their campaigns. The smallest hint or mention in games and media of the things they are outspoken against is enough to set them off. They don't shy away from ripping things completely out of context and giving it only a very surface-level look and treatment if it furthers their case. Even when the games and media in question aim to make the audience sympathize with the victimized groups *Collective Shout* claims to advocate for, they want that thing nuked from orbit.
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In their [open letter][collective-shout-open-letter], they talk about "hundreds of other games featuring rape, incest and child sexual abuse on both Steam and Itch.io", yet conveniently omit any mention of what games they're talking about, so nobody can challenge them on it, citing that "most of the content found within the games, including the graphics and the developers descriptions, are too distressing for us to make public."
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