Twitch has announced an update to its community guidelines that aim to help the top streaming service better address hateful conduct and harassment. The change follows Twitch's previous update of its harassment policies back in January.
Twitch is the largest streaming service out there and is no stranger to controversy over how it handles issues with streamers on the platform. From streamer SmashGodxXx recently being accused of assaulting his girlfriend on stream to many streamers reporting harassment from viewers because they play games on easier difficulties. Now, Twitch is establishing new rules to better address harassment, even if it doesn't happen on its platform.
In a new announcement today, Twitch announced that it is updating its approach to dealing with claims of harassment that happens off Twitch by dividing its enforcement into two categories. The first category covers instances where somebody is harassed both on Twitch as well as off of Twitch. This would include instances such as harassment beginning during a stream and then continuing on Twitter afterward. The second category covers instances that occur entirely off of the platform if the offenses are serious enough and pose a substantial safety risk to the Twitch community such as deadly violence, terrorist activities, or membership in a known hate group.
Twitch's official post on the matter says, "While this policy is new, we have taken action historically against serious, clear misconduct that took place off service, but until now, we didn't have an approach that scaled." The post also reveals that Twitch is bringing on a third-party law firm that specializes in investigations and is experienced in dealing with similar cases. The service has also created an e-mail address for viewers to report any possible incidents that may fall under these guidelines at [email protected]. The post ends with an FAQ that hopes to answer any questions viewers may have.
The changes Twitch is making seem promising, and they will hopefully help curtail instances of both viewers on the platform acting out as well as streamers themselves. The guidelines are new enough that there will surely be some stumbles in its enforcement, but the inclusion of a third-party law firm does seem like a promising step to help ensure that the company is fair and effective in the enforcement of its new policies. Only time will tell how it shakes out, but at least Twitch is taking steps to help ensure that everyone on its platform is free from harassment.
Source: Twitch Blog