Recently, payment processors have increasingly used their financial power to pressure companies into censoring or removing content based on the demands of activist organizations such as Collective Shout. While advocacy for ethical standards is important, using financial gatekeeping to enforce specific moral viewpoints undermines freedom of expression, digital innovation, and democratic choice.

We, the undersigned, believe that:

Payment processors should remain neutral. Their role is to facilitate transactions, not to dictate acceptable content in society.
Censorship by financial coercion is unethical. It bypasses legal systems, due process, and public debate, instead imposing the values of small groups onto entire industries and communities.
Companies should not be forced to remove lawful content due to threats of de-platforming or payment suspension.
Freedom of expression is at stake. Allowing financial institutions to determine what speech is permitted sets a dangerous precedent for broader digital censorship.
 
We call upon:

Payment processors to adopt clear, consistent, and content-neutral policies, ensuring they do not act as moral arbiters outside of legal obligations.

 Lawmakers and regulators to investigate and limit financial censorship by ensuring payment networks operate as neutral utilities, not ideological enforcers.

Companies targeted by such campaigns to stand firm in protecting free expression, within the boundaries of applicable law, and to explore alternative payment solutions if pressured.

 
By signing this petition, you stand for:

Freedom of speech and artistic expression
Innovation and diversity in digital content
Keeping financial infrastructure neutral and accessible to all lawful businesses

 
Sign this petition to send a clear message: financial censorship is not acceptable.