Stripe has apologised after staff wrongly said it would no longer process the payments of LGBTQ+ related content or goods.
The firm, which millions of global businesses rely on for their online transactions, has come under fire for being one of several payment processors to not allow itself to be used for purchases of adult content online.
But when some called to complain, they were told the ban in fact extended to all LGBTQ+ content – including material which wasn’t adult or explicit in nature.
“The information given by our support team was totally wrong,” a Stripe spokesperson told the BBC.
“Stripe has no prohibitions on the sale of LGBTQ+ content or goods.
“We’re looking into this and making sure future inquiries are answered correctly.”
Stripe has not wanted to be associated with adult content for several years.
But on Wednesday, reports emerged on social media that some staff working for Stripe had told customers the sale of LGBTQ+ content in its entirety would not be allowed either.
In one widely-shared clip, a worker tells a caller the ban has been in place for around a month – before later backtracking and stating content is only banned when it is “abusive”.
Stripe’s policies are in the spotlight after payment processors, including Visa and Mastercard, faced pressure from an Australian campaign group to play their part in stopping online video game distributors selling certain pornographic games.
In a letter to the firms’ bosses, it claimed games were listed for sale online which included themes of “rape, incest and child sexual abuse”.
Soon after the letter was published, online game distributors Steam and itch.io removed games from their libraries and made others unavailable in searches – leading to a backlash from frustrated gamers.
Steam also updated its terms and conditions for sellers to add developers should not publish “content that may violate the rules and standards set forth by Steam’s payment processors and related card networks and banks, or internet network providers”.
It also said games should not contain “certain kinds of adult only content”.
While the move has come as a shock to gamers, it is not unusual for payment processors to distance themselves from adult content online.
In 2020, Mastercard and Visa ended the use of their cards on Pornhub after a New York Times investigation accused the site of being “infested” with child abuse videos.
Pornhub denied the claims.
