Wikipedia

Collective Shout

Collective Shout is an Australian activist group founded in 2009 by Melinda Tankard Reist. It describes itself as "a grassroots movement against the objectification of women and sexualisation of girls in media, advertising and popular culture."[4] Various news and advocacy organizations have described its agenda as anti-porn.

Collective Shout
Formation2009; 16 years ago (2009)[1]
FounderMelinda Tankard Reist[2]
Professional title
Collective Shout Limited[3]
Location
MethodsLobbying, petition
Director
Melinda Tankard Reist
Campaigns Manager
Caitlin Roper
Websitehttps://www.collectiveshout.org/

Collective Shout have protested the Australian release of films, books, and music they claim sexualize women, as well as sales of child sex dolls. The group rose to prominence in 2025 after lobbying for the digital distribution platforms Steam and Itch.io to remove hundreds of video games that they said featured themes such as rape, incest, and sexual violence, which resulted in Itch.io temporarily deindexing all not-safe-for-work adult games.[5] Collective Shout's campaigning against violent adult games, in collaboration with payment processors, has raised concerns about financial censorship,[6] effects on LGBTQ+ games,[6][5] and creative freedom.[7]

History

Collective Shout was founded in 2009 by Melinda Tankard Reist, an Australian conservative political activist, writer, anti-abortion feminist and anti-pornography activist.[8][9]

According to Collective Shout, it was founded in response to growing concern about the sexualisation of children.[2] The organization's name comes from a letter Tania Andrusiak sent to Melinda Tankard Reist, saying about Reist's book Getting Real: Challenging the Sexualisation of Girls, "This book is a collective shout against the pornification of culture".[2]

Collective Shout has been described as an anti-porn lobbying group by The Guardian, Le Monde and other news outlets,[5][10][11][12] as well as specialized gaming and LGBTQ+ media.[4][13][14][15] The group's campaigns manager, Caitlin Roper, said Collective Shout is only "'anti-porn' in the sense that we recognize mainstream porn overwhelmingly depicts men's violence and abuse of women." She says they are "not looking to ban any instances of explicit or adult content" but that "Violence and dehumanization of women should not be acceptable outcomes of free speech."[6]

Affiliations

See also: Melinda Tankard Reist

Melinda Tankard Reist is the director for Collective Shout.[5] She has written columns for ABC, Australia's public news service. Her ABC biography states her past affiliations with feminist publisher Spinifex Press, conservative think tank Women's Forum Australia, Christian NGO World Vision, and with Tasmanian Senator Brian Harradine.[16]

Collective Shout says that the following are partner organisations: the Australian Childhood Foundation, Adopt Nordic WA, the Australian Summit Against Sexual Exploitation, Be Slavery Free, the Campaign Against Sex Robots, Coalition Against Trafficking in Women Australia (CATWA), City Women Toowoomba, Compassion International, Bodies Endangered, Girls Rising, the International Centre on Sexual Exploitation, Micah, the National Council of Jewish Women of Australia, the National Center on Sexual Exploitation, Not Buying It, the Resilient Kids Conference, Cyber Safety Solutions, The Rite Journey, Women's Voices, Bravehearts, the Raise Foundation, and Read To My Child.[17]

Campaigns

Throughout the 2010s and 2020s, Collective Shout has campaigned to withdraw from sale sexualized children's clothing.[18] These items included infant clothing with slogans like "I Fuck on the First Date"[19] or "Hide Your Daughters".[20] Collective Shout also unsuccessfully petitioned TeePublic to remove tees with images of bound, gagged, and leashed women, or slogans like "I'm just a hole, sir".[21]

In June 2011, Collective Shout petitioned the Australian Law Reform Commission to ban all x-rated movies in Australia.[8]

On 14 September 2011, Collective Shout appealed the R18+ rating of the controversial A Serbian Film (2010), which depicts child sexual assault as an allegory for post-war violence, before the Australian Classification Review Board after reading film reviews and accounts of the film's content.[22][23][24] Collective Shout described scenes of the movie to the review board,[22][23] resulting in the film's rating being changed to refused classification.[22][23][25]

In 2013, Collective Shout protested Seven Network's broadcasting of the Lingerie Football League, writing it was "sexist and demeaning to all women. It is not a sport, its purpose is to objectify women".[26]

In August 2015, Collective Shout claimed responsibility for pulling Zoo Weekly, a lad magazine that featured swimsuit models, from some store shelves. In October, Zoo Weekly announced its closure, and Zoo swimsuit model Ashlee Adams criticized Collective Shout's actions, accusing it of censorship.[11]

In 2017, Collective Shout, in conjunction with other anti-violence organizations, released a statement condemning the novel and film franchise Fifty Shades:[27]

In real life, men use the same tactics as Christian Grey in the Fifty Shades trilogy to gain and maintain power and control over the women in their lives. This includes isolation, threats, physical and sexual assault. This is not entertainment. This is not sexy. This results in serious harm to women and in the worst case scenario, murder.

Also in 2017, the group protested an application for a Geraldton hotel to employ "skimpy barmaids". According to the Geraldton Guardian, "Roper said the treatment of women as sexual entertainment was linked to violence against women."[28]

Also in 2017, Collective Shout campaigned against certain advertisements placed in Australia, such as Honey Birdette lingerie ads.[29] Reist wrote in her Religion & Ethics column that year that Australia should implement advertising standards similar to those in France.[30]

In 2020, fast food restaurant KFC apologised after Collective Shout criticised their television advertisement as containing "sexist grooming" and a "regression to tired and archaic stereotypes where young women are sexually objectified for male pleasure."[31][32] However, that ad was not ruled in violation by Australia's Ad Standards bureau.[32]

Also in 2020, Collective Shout brought media attention to and campaigned against the sale of child sex dolls in Australia. “Child sex abuse dolls are designed to facilitate users’ fantasies of raping a child,” a Collective Shout staff member said. “This is not a victimless crime – these lifelike dolls normalise and legitimise the sexual use and abuse of children.”[33]

Rap music

From 2013–2014, Collective Shout lobbied to have three American rappers' Australian visa revoked: Eminem,[34] Snoop Dogg,[35] and Tyler the Creator. Collective Shout argued that welcoming these artists to perform in Australia undermined Australia's efforts to curb violence against women.[35][34]

Collective Shout's effort to revoke Tyler the Creator's visa was supported by MP Alex Hawke. One member of Collective Shout reported Tyler, the Creator to the police "on grounds of verbal abuse".[36] On 27 July 2015, Tyler tweeted that he was "banned from Australia",[37] however, his touring company stated that, while the government had "raised issues" with his visa application, they had not refused it.[38] His tours to Australia were, however, reportedly cancelled in 2015 as a result of Collective Shout's campaign.[39]

Video games

In 2014,[40] Collective Shout protested the video game Grand Theft Auto V ("GTA V").[41]: 141–142  They described GTA V as a "video game that encourages players to brutally murder women for entertainment".[1] The game was banned from Target and Kmart retail chains in Australia that year,[42] for which the group claimed responsibility.[43] In response to this campaign, an anonymous Internet troll posting on 4chan[a] claimed responsibility for impersonating one of the group's leaders online.[41]: 141–142 

In 2018, Collective Shout promoted a petition to ban the sale of Detroit: Become Human in Australia, a game which they said contained themes of "child abuse and violence against women".[4][1] The game contained a scene of an abusive father beating his daughter to death.[45]

Writing for Rock Paper Shotgun, Edwin Evans-Thirlwell assessed that Collective Shout opposed games that depict violence against women out of concern that such media increases the incidence of real-world violence:[1]

Collective Shout have long called for the banning or delisting of games they regard as violently sexist, exploitative and abusive, as part of a wider campaign against the sexualisation and objectification of women in media. Much of their campaign is based on the argument that there is a causal relationship between such representations and real-life abuse.

2025 Steam and Itch.io game removals

In April 2025, Collective Shout created a change.org petition calling on the digital game store Steam to stop selling the rape and incest simulation game No Mercy. According to Reist, Steam refused to do so.[46] After a complaint from UK technology secretary Peter Kyle, Steam removed the game for sale in the UK.[47] The game was also removed for sale in Australia and Canada. On 10 April, No Mercy's developer opted to remove the game for sale globally.[47][4][46][48]

In July 2025, Collective Shout launched an open letter campaign "demanding credit card companies and PayPal block payments" for games on Steam and Itch.io.[46][1] Collective Shout claimed to have identified hundreds[b] of games on Steam that appeared in searches for the term "rape", or otherwise contained themes of incest, sexual violence, and/or child abuse.[1][49] Collective Shout said they lobbied payment processors after receiving no reply to 3,000 emails sent to Steam's parent company, Valve Corporation.[12] The campaign was co-signed by other groups and individuals, including those from the US-based National Centre on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE, formerly "Morality in Media"), Exodus Cry, FiLiA, and Coalition Against Trafficking in Women Australia (CATW).[46][50][51] After this, hundreds of games were reportedly removed from Steam citing pressure from payment processors to remove the content,[52][53] while Itch.io deindexed all adult not-safe-for-work games, stating the need to comply with payment processors immediately to stay viable, while planning to reinstate compliant projects back to the service in time.[54] It was reported that over 20,000 games were delisted by Itch.io before the platform began to conditionally reinstate them.[55]

Collective Shout's 2025 campaign against games containing themes of sexual violence led to significant controversy, with the organization saying that they received misogynistic abuse and threats online as a result.[1] Rock Paper Shotgun said there was "outcry from developers of erotic games and journalists who see this as continuing a pattern of financial institutions using their control of transactions to silence 'taboo' expressions of sex".[1] Several non-pornographic games were affected by itch.io's removals, including Last Call, an award-nominated autobiographical game which explores domestic abuse and recovery through poems and features no explicit images.[6][56][57]

Consume Me, a game with themes of eating disorders, was initially reported as having been affected. Itch.io's founder Leaf Corocan later clarified that Consume Me was not affected by the delisting of adult games, but rather had never been indexed to begin with as it had not met the site's indexing requirements.[56]

Following the Steam game removals, Vice reporter Ana Valens scrutinized the group, noting they had retweeted trans-exclusionary feminist Meghan Murphy. Valens posited that it was doubtful that there were any child abuse games on Steam.[58] Valens also accused the group of "targeting popular video games that depict children in scenarios where they face distress or harm — even if these depictions are intended to encourage concern and care in the player." She cited Collective Shout's campaign against the 2018 game Detroit: Become Human, which the group targeted due to its depiction of "child abuse and violence against women", however, Valens argued that the depiction was "intended to encourage empathy for the abused woman and child."[51] Both articles were subsequently pulled by Vice.com's operator Savage Ventures. Valens claimed this was due to "concerns about the controversial subject matter". Valens and two coworkers resigned over the removals.[4][59]

Counter-campaigns emerged to protest the delisting of Steam and Itch.io games, including in the form of petitions, phone calls, and emails to credit card processors Visa and Mastercard (cited by Steam as having pressured them to remove the games).[12][60]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Evans-Thirlwell, Edwin (22 July 2025). "Anti-porn group who tried to ban GTA 5 claim credit for Steam's sex game crackdown". Rock Paper Shotgun. Retrieved 23 July 2025.
  2. ^ a b c "Where it all began". Collective Shout. Archived from the original on 2025-04-12. Retrieved 2025-07-29.
  3. ^ a b "Collective Shout Limited | ACNC". Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission. Retrieved 27 July 2025.
  4. ^ a b c d e Litchfield, Ted (20 July 2025). "Australian anti-porn group claims responsibility for Steam's new censorship rules in victory against 'porn sick brain rotted pedo gamer fetishists', and things only get weirder from there". PC Gamer. Retrieved 21 July 2025.
  5. ^ a b c d Taylor, Josh (2025-07-28). "Mastercard and Visa face backlash after hundreds of adult games removed from online stores Steam and Itch.io". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2025-07-29.
  6. ^ a b c d Farokhmanesh, Megan (24 July 2025). "Steam and Itch.io Are Pulling 'Porn' Games. Critics Say It's a Slippery Slope to More Censorship". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Archived from the original on 29 July 2025. Retrieved 25 July 2025.
  7. ^ Farokhmanesh, Megan (30 July 2025). "Gamers Are Furious About the Censorship of NSFW Games—and They're Fighting Back". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Archived from the original on 9 August 2025. Retrieved 2025-08-01.
  8. ^ a b Gleeson, Kate (2013-05-01). "From Suck magazine to Corporate Paedophilia. Feminism and pornography — Remembering the Australian way". Women's Studies International Forum. 38: 83–96. doi:10.1016/j.wsif.2013.02.012. ISSN 0277-5395.
  9. ^ Hills, Rachel (8 January 2012). "Who's afraid of Melinda Tankard Reist?". The Age. Retrieved 10 January 2012.
  10. ^ "Les plateformes itch.io et Steam censurent des milliers de jeux vidéo, sous la pression des prestataires de paiement". Le Monde (in French). 2025-07-25. Retrieved 2025-07-31.
  11. ^ a b Adam, Kathryn (19 September 2015). "Zoo models express disappointment at the magazine's closure". news.com.au. Retrieved 1 August 2025.
  12. ^ a b c Ore, Jonathan (31 July 2025). "How an anti-porn lobby on payment processors censored thousands of video games". CBC. Retrieved 1 August 2025.
  13. ^ Jupp, Lydia (2025-07-31). "Gaming Platforms Pull LGBTQ+ Titles After Campaign By Aussie Anti-Porn Group". Star Observer. Retrieved 2025-07-31.
  14. ^ Riedel, Samantha (2025-07-30). "Payment Processors Are Pressuring Major Gaming Vendors to Pull LGBTQ+ and NSFW Titles". Them. Retrieved 2025-07-31.
  15. ^ Hansford, Amelia (2025-07-24). "Itch.io to 'deindex' all NSFW games following pressure from anti-porn lobby group". PinkNews | Latest lesbian, gay, bi and trans news | LGBTQ+ news. Retrieved 2025-07-31.
  16. ^ "Melinda Tankard Reist". ABC. Retrieved 29 July 2025.
  17. ^ "Our Partners". Collective Shout. Retrieved 30 July 2025.
  18. ^ Tierney, Lelia (31 July 2025). "35 Facts About Collective Shout".
  19. ^ "Teepublic flogs child abuse onesies and incites violence against women". Collective Shout.
  20. ^ Liszewski, Melinda (6 June 2016). ""Hide Your Daughters" sexit messages on children's clothing at Best and Less". Collective Shout. Archived from the original on February 18, 2025. Retrieved August 21, 2025.
  21. ^ Chopping, Renee (21 August 2024). "TeePublic Profits from Pain: Stop Selling Violence Against Women!".
  22. ^ a b c themightywonton (2011-11-14). "censorship and the right to shock". RealTime — Australia - Media Arts I Performance I Hybrid Arts I The World. Retrieved 2025-07-26.
  23. ^ a b c "Win! 'A Serbian Film' refused classification upon review". Collective Shout. Archived from the original on 2025-06-17. Retrieved 2025-07-26.
  24. ^ "Slobodna Dalmacija - INTERVJU Redatelj Srđan Spasojević: Moj šokantni "Srpski film" prokazuje fašizam političke korektnosti". slobodnadalmacija.hr (in Croatian). 2010-05-08. Archived from the original on 2021-11-16. Retrieved 2025-07-26.
  25. ^ "A Serbian Film classified RC upon review" (PDF). classification.gov.au. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-01-06. Retrieved 2025-07-26.
  26. ^ "Calls for Seven to cut Lingerie Football". The Sydney Morning Herald. 3 December 2013. Retrieved 18 July 2025.
  27. ^ Reist, Melinda Tankard Reist (9 February 2017). "Violence is the New Black: Fifty Shades of Abuse". Religion & Ethics (ABC). Archived from the original on 9 July 2024. Retrieved 18 July 2025.
  28. ^ Mann, Francesca (22 March 2017). "Hotelier says skimpy ban would hit hard". The Geraldton Guardian. Archived from the original on 19 March 2025. Retrieved 18 July 2025.
  29. ^ Webber, Miriam (11 November 2017). "'It's 2017, it's time to grow up': Honey Birdette dismisses petition as ridiculous". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 19 July 2024. Retrieved 19 July 2025.
  30. ^ Reist, Melinda Tankard (20 April 2017). "Why Australia Should Follow France's Lead on 'Degrading' Sexist Advertising". Religion & Ethics (ABC). Archived from the original on 21 May 2024. Retrieved 19 July 2025.
  31. ^ "KFC apologises for 'sexist' Australian ad". Reuters. 21 January 2020. Retrieved 19 July 2025.
  32. ^ a b Wilkinson, Zoe (21 January 2020). "KFC slammed for 'sexist' ad that 'reinforces gender stereotypes'". Mumbrella. Archived from the original on 26 May 2022. Retrieved 19 July 2025.
  33. ^ Molloy, Shannon (16 July 2020). "Disturbing child sex dolls, including anatomically correct babies, sold online in Australia by Alibaba". News.com.au.
  34. ^ a b "Morrison asked to ban Eminem". SBS News. AAP. 15 February 2014. Retrieved 18 July 2025.
  35. ^ a b "Snoop Dogg gets visa despite petition". SBS News. AAP. 15 January 2014. Retrieved 21 July 2025.
  36. ^ Battan, Carrie (7 June 2013). "Tyler, the Creator Reported to Australian Police After Stage Tirade Against Feminist Group". Pitchfork. Condé Nast. Retrieved 18 July 2025.
  37. ^ Clarke, Jenna (August 10, 2015). "Tyler the Creator cancels Australian tour". The Age. Archived from the original on August 13, 2015. Retrieved August 11, 2015.
  38. ^ "Tyler, The Creator is not banned from Australia despite what he thinks". BBC Newsbeat. 28 July 2015. Archived from the original on 23 January 2025. Retrieved 21 July 2025.
  39. ^ Bowden, Ebony (10 August 2015). "Tyler the Creator's Australian tour derailed by feminist activist group". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 21 July 2025.
  40. ^ "Over 40,000 sign petition calling on Target to withdraw GTA V for extreme violence against women". Collective Shout. 3 December 2014. Archived from the original on 17 July 2025. Retrieved 18 July 2025.
  41. ^ a b Spallaccia, Beatrice (2020). It's a Man's World (Wide Web): A Critical Analysis of Online Misogyny and Hate Speech. Alphabet. Erscheinungsort nicht ermittelbar: Bononia University Press. ISBN 978-88-6923-614-3. Archived from the original on 2025-05-26. Retrieved 2025-07-29.
  42. ^ "'Sexually violent' GTA 5 banned from Australian stores". BBC News. 4 December 2014. Retrieved 18 July 2025.
  43. ^ Davidson, Danica (22 July 2025). "Cofounder of Group That Claims Credit for Steam Censorship Mocks 'Porn Sick Brain Rotted Pedo Gamer Fetishists'". Otaku USA. Retrieved 23 July 2025.
  44. ^ "Elise Potaka and Luke McMahon, Unmasking a troll: Aussie 'jihadist' Australi Witness a 20-year-old American nerd". The Sydney Morning Herald. September 11, 2015. Archived from the original on 27 September 2015. Retrieved 18 July 2025.
  45. ^ Saunokonoko (4 December 2017). "'Disturbing' PlayStation game with gratuitous domestic violence plot shocks advocacy groups". 9 News.
  46. ^ a b c d Bita, Natasha (15 July 2025). "Child safety group finds 500 online 'games' role-playing rape and incest". The Australian. Archived from the original on 18 July 2025. Retrieved 18 July 2025.
  47. ^ a b Wilde, Tyler (April 10, 2025). "Developer of 'non-consensual sex' game withdraws it from Steam after it's banned in the UK, Canada, and Australia: 'We don't intend to fight the whole world'". PC Gamer. Retrieved July 31, 2025.
  48. ^ McShane, Asher (10 April 2025). "Home Secretary hails victory for LBC after vile rape and incest game pulled from download in UK".
  49. ^ Cole ·, Samantha (2025-08-04). "The Anti-Porn Crusade That Censored Steam and Itch.io Started 30 Years Ago". 404 Media. Retrieved 2025-08-04.
  50. ^ "Open letter to payment processors profiting from rape, incest + child abuse games on Steam". Collective Shout. 11 July 2025. Retrieved 18 July 2025.
  51. ^ a b Valens, Ana (19 July 2025). "Group Behind Steam Censorship Policies Have Powerful Allies — And Targeted Popular Games With Outlandish Claims". Vice. Archived from the original on 20 July 2025.
  52. ^ Bonk, Lawrence (July 16, 2025). "Steam now bans games that violate the 'rules and standards' of payment processors and banks". Engadget. Archived from the original on 17 July 2025. Retrieved 18 July 2025.
  53. ^ Poposki, Claudia (July 18, 2025). "400 video games with rape, incest, child abuse pulled from Steam". news.com.au. Retrieved 18 July 2025.
  54. ^ Hood, Vic (July 24, 2025). "Itch.io has "deindexed" all adult NSFW content following "scrutiny" from payment processors". GamesIndustry.biz. Archived from the original on July 25, 2025. Retrieved July 24, 2025.
  55. ^ Farokhmanesh, Megan. "Itch.io Is Restoring NSFW Games—as Long as They're Free". Wired. Retrieved 1 August 2025.
  56. ^ a b Randall, Harvey (24 July 2025). "Itch.io deindexes NSFW games after becoming the latest target of skittish credit card companies and anti-porn group Collective Shout, catching an award-winning indie and more in the crossfire". PC Gamer. Retrieved 26 July 2025.
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  58. ^ Valens, Ana (18 July 2025). "This Group Takes Responsibility for Steam's Payment Processor Censorship Policies — They Just Implied 'Pervert Nerds' Cause Society's Problems". VICE. Archived from the original on 19 July 2025. Retrieved 20 July 2025.
  59. ^ "Waypoint Writers Quit Over Removal Of Articles Related To New Steam Policy - Aftermath". aftermath.site. 21 July 2025. Retrieved 21 July 2025.
  60. ^ Hernandez, Patricia (28 July 2025). "Visa and Mastercard are getting overwhelmed by gamer fury over censorship". Polygon. Retrieved 4 August 2025.

Notes

  1. ^ According to The Sydney Morning Herald, the individual who impersonated Roper was Joshua Ryne Goldberg.[44]
  2. ^ In the absence of Collective Shout enumerating the games, PC Gamer questioned the figure, challenging that their count likely includes duplicate entries.[1]

Bibliography

  • Reist, Melinda Tankard; Lahl, Jennifer (2019), Broken bonds: surrogate mothers speak out, North Geelong: Spinifex, ISBN 978-1-925581-55-3
  • Reist, Melinda Tankard (2011). Big Porn Inc: exposing the harms of the global pornography industry. North Melbourne, Victoria: Spinifex Press. ISBN 978-1-876756-89-5.
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