In recent days, creators on pixivFANBOX have reported receiving notices from the platform’s administrators regarding suspensions of their work. These suspensions seem to primarily affect fiction containing sexual and violent themes, with the platform citing “issues raised by payment processors” as the reason. Some artists have noted that even older works, dating back several years, have been taken down.
pixivFANBOX is a prominent Japanese subscription-based service that allows content creators to establish their own fan communities, sharing exclusive material such as illustrations, manga, novels, and more with their supporters, akin to services like Patreon.
Around September 25, numerous creators shared on X that they had received messages about their content being suspended from pixivFANBOX. The standard notice reads: “Following a notice from our payment processor, we have taken measures to suspend the publication of posts that may contain expressions subject to the ‘Items Requiring Revision’ policy.”
It’s important to distinguish this from the platform’s “Prohibited Items,” which cover standard prohibitions like CSAM, realistic gore, or bestiality. The “Items Requiring Revision” policy targets non-live action/non-realistic content, such as illustrations or doujinshi, where pixivFANBOX determines on a case-by-case basis that certain adjustments to the content or its metadata (like tags and descriptions) are necessary.
Among the suspension notices shared by artists, common reasons include tags like “hypnosis,” “brainwashing,” and “kidnapping” (related to non-consensual themes), as well as violence and cruelty. For instance, one creator mentioned that their comic was suspended for “excessive violence” despite containing no blood or explicit gore. They suspect this may be due to metadata including terms like “organs” and “corpse.”
This experience was echoed by others, with one illustrator advising fellow pixivFANBOX users: “The recent wave of FANBOX suspensions seems to be triggered by specific characters in the title or tags. In some cases, simply changing those parts and resubmitting for review gets the post approved, so it’s worth giving that a try.”
Since pixivFANBOX is explicitly citing “issues raised by payment processors” as the cause, it appears the platform is conducting broad screenings for content that third parties deem problematic (similar to what Steam began doing last year). This is especially evident given that posts from three to four years ago are being affected, suggesting that content once compliant with pixivFANBOX’s terms is now being re-evaluated.
pixivFANBOX is not the first Japanese platform to face restrictions from payment processors. Over the past few years, major sites such as DLsite, Fantia, Melonbooks, Skeb, and even the online stores of game developers have encountered transaction suspensions for hosting legal adult content.