Twitch updates anti-harassment and sexual content policies

Starting on February 19th, 2018, all content on Twitch will be subject to new guidelines. These guidelines broaden the reach of Twitch’s anti-harassment and sexual content policies.

Conduct that Twitch deems as “hateful” will result in an “immediate indefinite suspension.” This includes conduct that takes place “off-Twitch.” Verifiable hateful or harassing conduct towards someone on Twitch that happens on or off Twitch will result in an immediate indefinite suspension.

Twitch will also be updating their moderation framework to pay close attention to the context and intent in addition to the words or actions used.

According to a statement obtains by Ars Technica, Twitch won’t be actively watching Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, or other social platforms for harassment. Instead, users can “provide documentation that illustrates harassment from any source.”

In addition to broadening their anti-harassment policies, Twitch is bolstering their approach to sexual content. Twitch will be looking at “at contextual elements such as the stream title, camera angles, emotes, panels, attire, overlays, and chat moderation,” as well as whether streamers are offering access to prohibited sexual content, like ‘lewds’.

On top of this, Twitch stresses that attire in streams should be appropriate.

Twitch is looking to draw a line between their streaming platform and sexual exploitation. A growing community of streamers on Twitch have begun wearing lowcut shirts and performing various acts, like doing squats in front of the camera, for followers or subscribers. Streamers, cosplayers, and influencers have also begun selling lewd pictures of themselves for monetary gain.