Mastercard’s Web Porn Rules Are Unfair, Civil Rights Group Says

Mastercard Inc.‘s “onerous” requirements for online sellers of adult content should be investigated as a possible unfair business practice, a coalition of civil rights groups told federal regulators Wednesday.

Websites that offer Mastercard payment options for adult content such as pornography must abide by a host of registration and monitoring requirements that create privacy concerns and infringe upon First Amendment free-speech rights, according to a complaint filed with the Federal Trade Commission by the American Civil Liberties Union and 22 other advocacy groups.

Mastercard announced the revised standards for “adult content merchants” in April 2021 as part of a ...