Fall 2021 creator policy engagement update

• Two new updates from CPEP
• Mastercard’s Adult/18+ Requirements: An Overview
• Age Verification: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
• Should my campaign be marked Safe for All Audiences or Adult/18+ and how do I recategorize?

The Patreon Policy Team is back for the next round of CPEP, our quarterly Creator Policy Engagement Program. (You can read more about how creator input informed our spring and summer policy updates). This fall, we want to shed light on and hear your feedback on two important policy areas we’re exploring right now:

Adult/18+ Guidelines

We’ve planned our 9/23 policy live stream to prioritize questions about Patreon’s adult/18+ policy because we received dozens of questions from adult/18+ creators through this engagement program. The topic is also particularly timely because payment processing networks like Mastercard have recently established procedures that affect platforms like ours which host adult/18+ content.

First, to be clear: Patreon will continue to support adult/18+ content that is within our guidelines and we have no plans to ban this category of content. It’s important to us that adult/18+ creators can continue earning income on Patreon. To that end, we want to be open with you about Mastercard’s new standards, and of course, we’ll share the creator-first updates we make to fulfill them.

Here’s what Mastercard’s new requirements will involve:

• Consent Documentation:  Mastercard will require adult/18+ creators to document that any real people featured in their content are adults who have consented to the content’s creation and distribution. 
  
  
• Age & Identity Verification:  Mastercard will also require adult/18+ creators to confirm their date of birth and identity by providing a form of government-issued identification. We will begin this process with new adult/18+ creator signups before expanding it to adult/18+ creators who have already launched on Patreon, and will share additional details accordingly.

We understand these requirements can feel overwhelming, which is why in the coming weeks and months, we’ll be rolling out tools and procedures to make the process as easy as possible. As we prepare those plans, we want to hear from adult/18+ creators: What resources or education can Patreon offer to support you? Later in this post we’ve listed several ways to share your thoughts, and we also encourage you to join Thursday’s policy live stream, where we’ll be taking creator questions.

Creator Coins as a Membership Benefit

As the creative community increasingly turns to crypto-based technologies to engage with fans, we’ve begun to explore whether — and how — to support Patreon creators in doing the same. One opportunity creators have expressed interest in is developing a creator coin or social token which could be included as a membership benefit for patrons and also available to fans widely. 

Our initial exploration, together with your creator feedback, will inform the development of this new policy. We want to be at the forefront of adopting technologies that can empower creators, but we know that emerging technology always has supporters and detractors alike. So we’re eager to hear from creators to help guide our policies in this space.

How to Share Your Feedback

• Submit a question or thought for Thursday’s policy live stream. We encourage you to RSVP even if you can’t join in real time, to receive a recording within a few hours of the event.
  
  
• Email the Policy team at CreatorPolicy@Patreon.com.
  
  
• Stop by our designated Discord channel, #policy-live-Q4-2021, following Thursday’s event. (Note: in previous quarters, this channel was live for 24 hours following the policy live stream; however, thanks to creator feedback and the nuanced nature of adult/18+ content policy, we’ve extended the duration of that channel to one full week following the live stream, ending on Thursday, September 30).

We hope you’ll join us for Thursday’s event and look forward to engaging with you on these policy topics in the weeks ahead.