Mangadex to purge titles for legal reasons

Dex-chan lover
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Just to expand on what I said... I genuinely can’t tell whether people are catastrophizing this or if there’s actually a broader shift happening. That’s why I’m asking for clarity.

If this extends beyond explicit NSFW content and starts applying to mature-themed works that feature younger-looking characters in suggestive contexts, then that’s a much bigger deal. I’ll be honest: I don’t even know what Papa Milk was, so I’m missing some context here.

If, however, this is strictly limited to explicit NSFW material, then it’s not quite as apocalyptic as some are making it out to be. I say that as someone who regularly uploads NSFW doujinshi. On MangaDex, those might get 300–700 bookmarks, while on other platforms the same release can pull 30k–70k. I like having the option to upload here and I use it, but this alone wouldn’t be the end of MD. It just depends on how far this goes.


On rule 3.1.1 specifically:

“3.1.1 Illegal Content, in particular, child pornography, child abuse and drug abuse.”

The inclusion of “drug abuse” feels out of place and overly broad. Depictions of drug use are common across all forms of media... film, television, literature... and are often used to portray reality or explore serious themes. There isn’t a blanket law against fictional depictions of drug use. As written, the rule could technically apply to a wide range of mainstream works, including manga currently on the site. It should just be removed.

More broadly, the wording of 3.1.1 feels overly literal and ambiguous at the same time. It doesn’t clearly distinguish between real-world illegality and fictional depictions. Adding qualifiers like “non-fictional” or “real-world” where appropriate... or explicitly clarifying how fictional portrayals are treated... would remove a lot of confusion.

At the end of the day, I’m asking for clearer boundaries so uploaders aren’t left guessing where the line is.
3.1.1 needs to be rewritten. Full stop.
 
Dex-chan lover
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its not just the subreddit its X/Twitter also they are sharing alternate site and people are talking about mass reporting MD because of this, i doubt they actually will but only time will tell what happens
I wouldnt be surprised. After what happened with crunchyroll and people feeling very betrayed by it, the general otaku community gets very vengeful about this kinda thing.

You're not allowed to morally grandstand while hiding behind the veneer of the law about certain content (especially when its not even illegal where the site is hosted) when you're literally a piracy site.
 
Group Leader
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Twitter is a for-profit corporation. Mangadex is a non-profit project run by the scanlation community for the scanlation community, and being able to operate in any arbitrary jurisdiction shouldn't be a consideration. Even comparing the two is an insult to our intelligence. Unless all the reassurances from the mods that MD is still a community project and being operated by NamiComi won't change anything are BS.

Though seriously, if this is a decision from the new corporate overlords, just tell us that openly. You owe us that much considering MangaDex would be nothing without its user community, and the contributors need to know whether they can still post content here or if they need to be afraid of running afoul of unannounced rule changes.
For them to be open a out this would inply they hold any respect towards the scan lations or mangareaders, which this thread alone proved they sont xare in the slightest.
 
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So you can't actually answer anything then, you sockpuppet.
To be fair, he may just be the mod that was unfortunately "on duty" when this all blew up and he's telling us what he can despite these questions being outside of his purview.

Still, MD staff owes us a full answer from someone who does have authority to speak on the legal / content management side of things, and sooner rather than later.
 
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it wouldnt be payment processors atleast not in US, the courts ruled Visa and Mastercard are not allowed to put any restrictions on transactions due to content of purchases or Merch in general
No, that’s not broadly true. After doing a quick search.

There is no general U.S. court ruling that says Visa Inc. or Mastercard are forbidden from restricting transactions based on content. If you think I am wrong provide some links.

And I suspect has to do with the payment processor because it always comes down to money.
 
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Well i don't mind to accept apology, everyone make a mistake. But was she really apologize tho?

Not only what she said was so unprofessional and so uncalled for, what she said make lots of members start having miscommunication and make scanlators afraid MD will purge lots of their manga scans.

It's up to you if you want her doesn't get demoted, but it's funny she getting away without clear apology and statement. I mean her words make everyone including me, believe the contents of mangadex only allowed according to admin and staff own moral and personal opinions.


Just my 50 cents
Man...i wish can start my post with "let's be civil and adult" because lots of OOT topic with xenophobic posts. But since even staff admin start it with personal attack, i think it's impossible now 😥.
 
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it wouldnt be payment processors atleast not in US, the courts ruled Visa and Mastercard are not allowed to put any restrictions on transactions due to content of purchases or Merch in general
And yet Visa and MasterCard are still doing the restrictions anyways, and the restrictions are still in their rules:

Section 1.3.3.4
https://usa.visa.com/content/dam/VCOM/download/about-visa/visa-rules-public.pdf

Section 5.12.7
https://www.mastercard.us/content/d...na/global-site/documents/mastercard-rules.pdf

They aren't going to stop until they receive severe punishment, not just a slap on the wrist.
 
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Why stop at lolisho? Rape is bad too go remove that. Ryona is also problematic remove that. Guro is problematic definitely remove that. Age gap romance is weird, remove that. Stories with slaves are problematic, just remove every single one with those. Its only fair right? This is what you admins want right?
 
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The content that was removed, and some content still being reviewed, includes entries labelled Mature, with characters that are engaging in sexual intercourse and either:
  • They are clearly very young in appearance, and the content does not confirm that they are adults.
  • The content itself confirms that they are under the age of 18.
Nothing else is being examined at this time. We're currently exploring options to retain the title entry and other non-infringing metadata, but for now, we need to proceed with the removal.

Berserk is tagged as erotica and has underaged characters engaging in sex. It even has underaged characters engaging in eroguro. When are you removing it?
 
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There is no general U.S. court ruling that says Visa Inc. or Mastercard are forbidden from restricting transactions based on content. If you think I am wrong provide some links.

And I suspect has to do with the payment processor because it always comes down to money.
He's referring to Trump's executive order:

https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/08/guaranteeing-fair-banking-for-all-americans/

But I agree with you that I also suspect the payment processors.
 
Dex-chan lover
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He's referring to Trump's executive order:

https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/08/guaranteeing-fair-banking-for-all-americans/

But I agree with you that I also suspect the payment processors.
I suspected that's what they were thinking of. Sadly no. It doesn't do that.
I WISH it did. But to quote ai:

No — the “Guaranteeing Fair Banking for All Americans” executive order does not prohibit payment processors like Visa and Mastercard from setting content-based restrictions on transactions.


Here’s what’s actually going on:




🧾 What the Executive Order Is About​


The executive order you’re referring to focuses on anti-discrimination in banking and financial services—meaning the government wants to make sure banks and financial service providers do not deny access to credit, accounts, or services based on protected characteristics (race, gender, etc.). It’s aimed at preventing unfair discrimination in things like:


  • Loan approvals
  • Bank account access
  • Financial fees and services

It does not say that Visa or Mastercard:


✅ Must process every transaction regardless of content
❌ Cannot set rules about what type of merchants they accept
❌ Cannot refuse certain categories of sales


The order is more about who you are, not what you sell.
 
Double-page supporter
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Man...i wish can start my post with "let's be civil and adult" because lots of OOT topic with xenophobic posts. But since even staff admin start it with personal attack, i think it's impossible now 😥.
Considering that we have 2 different people that have "staff" level positions in this thread saying 2 different things whilst also completely avoiding answering questions that would clear things up, it's pretty clear to me that any statement from mods, staff and admins shouldn't be taken at face value.

One's saying it was due to policy and now another is saying that it's due to some "legal" issue. The fact that they can't even say "I don't know" about anything says a lot.
 

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