Twitch has tightened its laws around statements arising from discussions of “sensitive social” and “political issues.”
In a statement, Twitch stated that while this may be a park “for people to express themselves and discuss the world around them,” any current that arises with discussions about conflict, faith or “reproductive rights, LGBTQ+ rights or” immigration” should be labeled.
“Twitch is a place for people to express themselves and discuss the world around them,” Twitch defined.
“We require tagging of broadcasts when the focus of the broadcast includes discussions and debates about sensitive political or social issues, such as discussions of elections, civic integrity, war or military conflict, and civil rights.”
Examples of content that require a classification label include broadcasts that include former political officials or current politicians if the content includes discussions with people about popular politics, protection of life or observation of elections, civic processes or election-related disputes. and live broadcasts of protests, rallies or civil unrest related to civil rights issues or government policies.
Also subject to additional tags are discussions of military conflicts, foreign policy options or national security issues, and discussion of ideological or sociopolitical perspectives on topics such as gender, race, sexuality or religion.
“Discussing legislation related to a sensitive social issue such as reproductive rights, LGBTQ+ rights, or immigration” could also be subject to hashtags.
“Streams containing informational or educational content intended to share knowledge in a neutral, fact-based manner, rather than engaging in any type of advocacy for an issue or candidate” are not subject to labeling, alternatively.
“For example, sharing the story of how votes are counted in the US presidential election to determine the next president, or simply encouraging people to vote or register to vote,” Twitch explained. “Intermittent mentions of politics, politicians, or sensitive social issues do not need to be labeled Politics and Sensitive Social Issues.”
The changes come in a difficult few weeks for the live-streaming giant, which has found itself facing accusations of Islamophobia and anti-Semitism.
“There is no place on Twitch for racism, hate, or harassment of any kind, including anti-Semitism and Islamophobia,” CEO Dan Clancy said in a follow-up comment. “As our community has grown, we have worked to create community guidelines to prohibit these harms.”
“Twitch is, and always will be, about belonging. Every day, people come together on our service to build communities around shared interests and express themselves authentically. To make this possible, we work hard to ensure that our community is a safe place.”
“Millions of streamers, with a wide variety of views and perspectives, spend time on Twitch. We recognize that some content, while permitted on our service, may be objectionable to some members of our community. Views shared by streamers on Twitch is not Twitch’s opinions nor are they my personal opinions. “We appreciate the feedback and participation of our people,” Clancy concluded. “Our means of protection continue to be manufactured and evolve as our provider grows. “We need to make sure anyone can find their place on Twitch and stay committed to ensuring hate and harassment have no place here.”
Currently, Twitch apologized for fighting new account registrations from Israel and Palestine due to the ongoing fight. It stated that the logs were quickly disabled following the October 7, 2023 attacks to “prevent the upload of graphic material related to the attack and protect the safety of users.” However, until recently this verification had not been re-enabled.
