Two new updates from CPEP

Patreon’s Policy Team is back with our latest Creator Policy Engagement Program (CPEP) update. Here’s what we’re focused on this quarter:

• Updating you on the coming rollout of the Trust & Safety development we previewed in June.
• Implementing a payment processor’s requirement to verify that certain creators of adult/18+ content are over 18. (Details and next steps below.)

Trust & Safety development rolling out this month

Last quarter, we previewed a Trust & Safety development that lets content moderators who encounter mild instances of content being outside Patreon’s Guidelines to temporarily hide that content from patron view without freezing the creator’s whole Patreon campaign. This allows any necessary moderation to be made without disrupting the creator from otherwise operating as usual (adding content, engaging with patrons, and collecting payouts, and so on). Today, we’re happy to share that moderators will begin using this new capability in the coming weeks. For more on this development and how it will benefit creators, check out the recording of our June live stream.

Age verifying certain adult/18+ creators*

*If your campaign is categorized as safe for all audiences, rather than adult/18+, feel free to skip ahead to the next section. (By “adult/18+” we mean safe for audiences 18 years or older.)

Last October, we shared that payment processing networks would soon require us, and other platforms hosting adult/18+ content, to verify that creators of adult/18+ content are over 18. (For context: payment processors help Patreon get creators paid. With these changes, their intention is to combat illegal content like revenge porn and Child Sex Abuse Material). We asked for your questions, concerns, and ideas around the age verification process, which we’ve since been working to address and incorporate. Now, as promised, we’re back with new specifics, next steps, and resources to help make the process as straightforward and inclusive as possible.

Age verification is required of adult/18+ creators whose campaigns include one or more works containing nudity or sexually explicit content. These works can take any form, for instance: audio, text, and/or visual (including animations and depictions of human beings).

Creators currently categorized as adult/18+ whose campaigns contain no nudity or sexually explicit content are eligible to opt out of age verification. These creators can bypass age verification by recategorizing their campaigns to “safe for all audiences.” More on this in the next section.

Rollout process and next steps

Adult/18+ creators already on the platform who are actively receiving subscription payments will start hearing from us about age verification within the next month. We designed an age verification rollout process that prioritizes creator flexibility, with creators having the following options:

• Go ahead and complete age verification using a government-issued ID. We’ve partnered with a secure third party that is global in scope and will verify that you are at least 18 years old. Click here for much more on process, privacy, security, etc.
• Recategorize as “safe for all audiences” if your campaign is eligible (see section above for eligibility details), which in practice opts you out of age verification. Here’s how you can do that.
• Stay tuned for the ability to use a non-government-issued ID for age verification. Thanks to creator input, we are developing a list of alternative forms of ID we can accept that will meet the requirement. We’re offering creators this avenue in the name of privacy and inclusivity (two of the topics that came up most often in your feedback) and will share an update on next steps later this year.

This flexible rollout phase we’ve built will give adult/18+ creators at least two months to choose the path that’s right for them. By the end of 2022, once the rollout phase is over, creator payouts will become contingent on adult/18+ creators completing age verification (either with a government-issued ID or with an approved alternative form of ID) or, for those eligible, recategorizing to “safe for all audiences.”Campaigns that still do not comply will ultimately be frozen until age verification is completed.

But rest assured: before any payouts are impacted or pages are frozen, creators will receive regular reminders to ensure they are aware of the process and nothing comes as a surprise. Our intention here is not to be punitive, but rather to meet the payment processor’s terms while also preserving creator choice as best as possible. To ensure the requirement is fulfilled, Patreon will bring all existing creators into compliance by the second quarter of 2023.

Additional resources

In the meantime, we’re compiling materials to help inform and support you along the way. Here are two Help Center articles, which we will update as appropriate:

• Frequently Asked Questions about age verification
• Mastercard’s Adult/18+ requirements

Join us for our next Creator Policy Engagement Program Q&A:

To further support adult/18+ creators, our upcoming policy live stream will prioritize their questions, both about age verification and adult/18+ content policy as a whole. It will highlight the Trust & Safety update we mentioned above, as well. Be sure to RSVP and share your questions ahead of time (even if you can’t join live, we will share a recording afterwards). We’ll also field your questions in the week following the live stream in our designated #policy-live-q3-2022 Discord channel.

We hope you’ll tune into the live stream later this month, and you can always reach the Policy Team directly at [email protected]. We appreciate your engagement and partnership as always and will talk to you soon.