This has been a rough, rough week…
The passing of yet another ridiculous and redundant law like the CREEPER Act has placed another hurdle for guys like me who likes to use and talk about sex toys. Do not get me wrong, I have criticized child-like sex dolls in the past, but the CREEPER Act is dumb because it prohibits something that 1) does not exist yet, and 2) it deals with materials ALREADY PROHIBITED in the USA.
Between CESTA, FOSTA, and CREEPER, those of us who like to talk about sex online had been placed on a very difficult position. Websites from social media outlets to financial processing companies had been contacting clients and users, suspending or canceling their accounts without warning or forcing them to change their content / merchandise (all legal) to adapt to ever changing “Community Guidelines”. Want some examples?
YouTube
I have mentioned before that I do not earn a single cent by making YouTube video reviews. I have to age-restrict my videos, which automatically does not allow to monetize my videos and places them in the “limbo zone” where they are not promoted. Other sex toy reviewers like my colleague Jason from XXX Branded Reviews, are on the same boat. In addition to that, we risk being penalized with flags whenever we show “nudity” – even if it is from a fake vagina or a sex doll. Basically, we cannot show you the toys we are reviewing… so why bother in making videos?
These prohibitions seem to affect more the male sex toy reviewers than the female ones since female sex toys are becoming more and more “abstract” and less realistic – a request from the market -, while male toys are going the opposite direction, becoming more and more realistic due to the request of their market.
So, that spanking video showing how bouncy is the ass of a doll? Sorry Bob, cannot do…
Patreon
“So Casque, what is the issue? If YouTube does not allow you to monetize, use Patreon!” Well Bob, we also have tried that route – and got my account suspended just before writing this post. To reactivate my Patreon, I had to remove ALL mentions of masturbation and sex toys from the description page.
The same thing happened to my colleague Infernal Monkey earlier this week. My suggestion was to describe himself as “discussing male sexuality and relationships”, so his account could be working. I had to do the same with my account.
Oh, before I forget, do not search for us in Patreon! Our blogs are NOT suggested by their search engine because we have to mark ourselves as Adult Creators, barring us from the search algorithm. Great, no?!
PayPal
On June 12, our friends (and new affiliates) OtonaJP published a statement informing their clients they would not use PayPal to process payments. Why? Because CREEPER forces PayPal (and other companies) to avoid any contact with items involving “Loli, Nudity, School Girl references, Scaled down Dolls with small Bodies as reference to possible underage naked bodies” among other content.
OtonaJP established that “PayPal gave us the option to erase any loli related content, hentai content as well as a big part of our whole product catalog. We refused to do so and to limit us and the selection we are offering our dear customers in such an unacceptable way. This wasn’t the first time that such problems appeared behing the scenes but the otonaJP team believes, that it was time to stand for what we believe and even though PayPal is a big company, to take actions in our hands. “
Obviously, this new policy from PayPal will affect other retailers selling Japanese onaholes like ToyDemon, Kanojo Toys, among others. You have to remember that the Japanese sex toy market is centered around hentai and schoolgirls, which are easily 90 – 95% of the inspiration for onaholes.
In fact, none of the male sex toy reviewers I know has the typical “Donate through PayPal” button on their blogs. Guess why? PayPal’s user agreement explicitly forbids using PayPal for “obscene” activity, and getting donations for websites showing fake genitals or including use of pornographic material may be considered obscene.
Our Options
Currently, we do not have a lot of options. To make money, our best option is for our readers / followers to click on our affiliate links. You purchase something following those links, we get a small commission. Continue supporting your favorite reviewer – and continue masturbating!