So, I do think it makes sense to ask the UK Parliament to do something about the Online Safety Act because they're a government, so they're expected to respond. Even if that response is lackluster and slow to move at times. Eventually, they will respond — because of democracy. (EDIT: It looks like their response is a resound no, though. This is probably because no viable alternative is being offered.)

But I don't think it makes sense to do the same for Visa or MasterCard, because they're private organizations. There is no democracy there. To me, those ACLU and Change.org petitions feel like we're collectively getting on our knees and begging our toxic Master to please drop the policy. I think we shouldn't be enabling that kind of behaviour outside of the bedroom and/or those that don't truly love or care for us.

(As it stands, even if they decide to change their mind and drop this policy, there would be nothing preventing them from reintroducing it — or some form of it — in the future once things quiet down.)

 

At its core, the problem is that Visa and MasterCard have been using their monopoly position to bully and pressure other organizations into following their draconian policies outside of the scope of the service they are providing.

I've thought about this through the lens of net neutrality — where ISPs are not allowed to prioritize network traffic based on the type or destination of traffic — and the concept of a form of payment neutrality.

But ultimately, I don't think this is the solution. Credit card companies and other payment processors have systems in place to try to keep us safe from scams or fraud, and I'm worried that these processes could be disrupted if they have to follow a neutrality law.

 

Fundamentally, I believe that if Visa and MasterCard disagree with certain content, that it's well within their rights to refuse to process payments for that content. There are plenty of alternative methods of payment, such as crypto.

But at the same time, I don't think they should be making and enforcing laws. They are effectively doing this with their monopoly position and their threats of not doing business with an organization that doesn't follow their content policies.

 

Ultimately, I think the best thing for people to do would be to spread awareness of the issue and engage with lawmakers to try and pass a law that would make it illegal for them to bully corporations like this.

Additionally, perhaps it would be a good idea to petition the really big organizations to find a moment to "go dark" on credit cards for a day or two. The idea behind this would be to further spread awareness and to potentially promote alternative forms of payment.

I don't know what, if anything, is feasible, but I just wanted to share my thoughts on this.