Kickstarter Lifts Ban on NSFW Projects, But Stripe Retains Right to Suspend Approved Campaigns

Last week, crowdfunding platform Kickstarter made some controversial changes to its guidelines, banning various forms of NSFW content, including “implied sex acts,” sexually “derogatory” themes, “photo-realistic” nudity, and even “MILF/DILF” content. They also included a ban on “buttocks.” Many creators speculated that the blame rested with Stripe, Kickstarter’s payment processor, drawing parallels to the NSFW content crackdown seen on other platforms in 2025.

Today, Kickstarter has rolled back those restrictive NSFW rules and issued a blog post titled “An Apology: Rethinking Our Mature Content Guidelines,” confirming that the “botched” guidelines were largely influenced by requirements from Stripe.

“Stripe operates under its own legal and compliance requirements that are separate from Kickstarter’s own rules,” explained Kickstarter’s Chief Operating Officer, Sean Leow. “Even Stripe’s rules are shaped by a broader system dictated by financial institutions that oversee global money movement. Many platforms, including other crowdfunding and creator monetization sites, face challenges in accommodating mature content while ensuring creators get paid smoothly.”

Leow also highlighted that several projects approved by Kickstarter have been “suspended” by Stripe due to these compliance issues. “In recent months, we’ve seen an increasing number of campaigns that were already approved by Kickstarter get suspended by Stripe mid-funding. This can be devastating for creators, as their projects can be put on hold with funds in limbo, sometimes weeks into campaigns they’ve spent months or even years developing.”

For now, Kickstarter has reverted to its earlier guidelines, which only prohibit pornography and illegal content. However, Leow pointed out that Stripe can still suspend a campaign that Kickstarter has approved. The updated “Rules” page now includes a link to “Stripe’s Prohibited and Restricted Business List.”

Kickstarter is clearly indicating that it wouldn’t have made these changes if Stripe hadn’t begun shutting down creators’ campaigns. This sentiment is reinforced by Leow’s statement: “Faced with the realization that creators would continue getting caught in the gap between our rules and Stripe’s, we believed the best way forward was to close that gap, providing creators with one set of rules to follow instead of navigating two different policy frameworks.”

An inquiry was made to Stripe, but they chose not to comment.