It was announced yesterday that Itch.io “deindexed” all adult NSFW content from its browse and search pages. [SOURCE]
Itch.io is a website for users to host, sell, and download indie video games, indie role-playing games, game assets, comics, zines, and music. Launched in March 2013 by Leaf Corcoran, the service hosts over 1,000,000 products as of November 2024. From the announcement:
Recently, we came under scrutiny from our payment processors regarding the nature of some content hosted on itch.io. Due to a game titled No Mercy, which was temporarily available on itch.io before being banned back in April, the organization Collective Shout launched a campaign against Steam and itch.io, directing concerns to our payment processors about the nature of certain content found on both platforms.
Our ability to process payments is critical for every creator on our platform. To ensure that we can continue to operate and provide a marketplace for all developers, we must prioritize our relationship with our payment partners and take immediate steps towards compliance.
This has, understandably, caused a lot of panic in the NSFW comics community, so let’s talk about what we can do. First, I’ll list some organizations that are working to combat efforts that prevent people from using their credit cards to access adult content. Next, I’ll discuss how this situation — and others — underscore the importance of having your own website.
How can you get involved?
Collective Shout initiated this with a single, straightforward step: They got their members involved in signing a petition and then presented it to Mastercard. If adult-content creators are going to have any chance of combating this, we’ll need to do the same. But that means focused effort. Below are some existing organizations that represent some of the best places to channel your energies.
1. Free Speech Coalition (FSC)
Mission: The FSC is the primary trade association for the adult entertainment industry. It advocates for the protection of free speech, privacy rights, and the legal rights of adult content creators.
Focus Areas: Free expression, age verification, anti-censorship efforts, worker rights, and policy reform.
Website: freespeechcoalition.com
Currently: Lobbying Congress over banking regulations.
2. The Woodhull Freedom Foundation
Mission: A non-profit organization defending sexual freedom as a fundamental human right. Woodhull works to protect adult industry workers, advocates for privacy rights, and opposes unnecessary regulation.
Focus Areas: Sexual freedom, privacy, and legal advocacy.
Website: woodhullfoundation.org
3. National Coalition for Sexual Freedom (NCSF)
Mission: NCSF advocates for the rights of sexual minorities, including adult entertainment professionals. It works on legal and policy issues related to sexual expression and fights against discrimination.
Focus Areas: Sexual expression, privacy, and defending sexual rights in law and policy.
Website: ncsfreedom.org
4. American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
Mission:
To defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to all people in the United States by the Constitution and laws — including free speech, privacy, and due process.Focus Areas:
First Amendment protections (including freedom of expression for adult content)
Government censorship and surveillance
LGBTQ+ rights
Sex worker advocacy and decriminalization
Opposition to overreaching obscenity laws
Legal support for marginalized communities affected by adult content regulation
Website: aclu.org
Currently: Putting pressure on Mastercard over its policy affecting sex workers.
You need a website
If you build your audience on a platform — any platform — you risk losing everything if/when that platform changes. As creators of NSFW comics, we’re all-too familiar with this. Even OnlyFans — a platform defined by adult content — tried to jettison its 18+ creators when it pursued its IPO (An initial public offering (IPO) refers to the process of offering shares of a private corporation to the public in a new stock issuance).
You need to own your audience-building efforts, and you can’t do that on a platform. You need a website. Spice Rack Comics’ Nero Villagallos O’Reilly has published The Quick ‘n’ Dirty Guide to Making a Website, and it’s packed with easy-to-follow instructions.
Web hosting and domain registration are inexpensive, and a WordPress installation is a one-click process with most web hosts. You’ll need a CMS (Content Management System) that’s optimized for comics, like Toocheke. Go to the Toocheke blog and scroll down for tutorials that will help you get up and publishing in no time at all. Start here.
Spice Rack Comics’ Tom Roberts adds that websites can be built to handle content delivery outside of Patreon (while still using Patreon for membership and payment). If you’re interested in discussing website work with him, please contact him here.
Webrings
One of the strengths of publishing platforms is discoverability. In other words, I can post my eComics on Itch.io and reach people who may not have heard of my before — either through my own publishing or my social media. One of the ways we NSFW comics creators can replace that is with a concept from the early 2000s, the webring. Spice Rack Comics is a webring. We work together to improve members’ outreach, through shared website promotion, a newsletter, and a shared social-media presence.
Start getting in touch with other comics creators whose work you think would be a good fit with your own, and discuss how you could do the same. It doesn’t have to be fancy or formal. Start small and build.
What is a Webring?
A webring is a group of websites linked together in a loop, typically around a shared theme (like NSFW comics). Each member site includes a small navigation widget — often with links to the “previous,” “next,” or “random” site in the ring — which helps visitors discover other creators in the network. Spice Rack Comics uses Clickthulu.
What You Need to Join or Start One:
A personal website (even a basic one will do)
Willingness to embed a small HTML widget on your homepage or archive page
A sense of community — you’re helping your fans discover other cool artists, and vice versa
Tips for NSFW Creators:
Keep your link badges visually cohesive — consider branding the webring
Make sure your landing page has an 18+ disclaimer if needed
Promote the webring on your newsletter and social bios
An email newsletter puts your content directly into fans’ inboxes — unfiltered, uncensored, and under your control.
What to include:
Updates about new comics, pin-ups, or stories
Early-access previews or subscriber-only art
Announcements for sales, events, or crowdfunding campaigns
Direct links to your site (or webring partners)
Recommended tools (with NSFW-friendly policies):
Beehiiv – good deliverability, allows adult content with proper tagging
MailerLite – NSFW-permissive, intuitive interface
Sendy – self-hosted and cheap (but requires setup)
More newsletters
Special thanks to LadyLibido for an extended list of NSFW-friendly newsletter services.
Buttondown Email – A simpler mailer service ran by a small and personable team and now offers different welcome emails. Also has means of running it’s own paid-subscription service if that is something you may be interested in. Offers a free accounts for up to 100 subscribers.
Email Octopus – Free accounts with service branding for 2,500 subscribers and 10,000 emails per month. Their paid accounts start at 8$ and you scale up to the amount you that’s within your budget.
Erxes – Free accounts let you have up to 5,000 contacts. This service is more than just newsletter email services, and may be more than what most people need and more complicated to use. Seems to have no service-specific content restrictions besides ‘don’t break the law’.
Go Postr – Paid service, 25$ a month for 3,000 subscribers and 15,000 emails, has a lot of templates for its emails and robust features.
Mailscribe – Free accounts offer 1000 emails a month. Offers more than just mailing lists but other email campaign features.
YNot Mail – Paid service, 25$ a month for unlimited subscribers and 5,000 emails. Also 1 gig of image storage.
Tips for NSFW Creators:
Always include a clear 18+ warning when people subscribe
Use a “double opt-in” to protect yourself legally
Archive past emails on your site as blog posts (for SEO!)
A “double opt-in” policy is a way to confirm that someone really wants to subscribe to your email list — and it protects both you and them. Here’s how it works:
Step One:
A person signs up for your newsletter by entering their email address (for example, on your website or link-in-bio page).Step Two:
They receive a confirmation email asking them to click a link to verify their subscription. Only after they click that link are they officially added to your mailing list.
This is not the first time credit card processors have imperiled the livelihoods of NSFW content creators, but if we take action—collectively and individually—we can protect ourselves and others from it getting worse.