Twitch streams about “political and sensitive issues” including “reproductive and LGBTQ+ rights” now require tagging

Twitch tightened rules regarding programs that discuss “political” and “sensitive social issues.”

IN statementTwitch said that while it is a place “where people can express themselves and discuss the world around them,” from now on, any stream that includes discussions about war, religion, or “reproductive rights, LGBTQ+ rights, or immigration” must be flagged.

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“Twitch is a place for people to express themselves and discuss the world around them,” Twitch explained.

“We require that threads be flagged when the thread’s focus is on discussions and debates about political or sensitive social issues, such as discussions about elections, civic integrity, war or military conflict, and civil rights.”

Examples of content that would require a classification label include streams featuring former or current political officials if the content includes discussions with those individuals regarding public policy, live broadcasts or commentary about elections, civil proceedings or election-related disputes, and live broadcasts of protests , rallies. or civil unrest related to civil rights issues or government policies.

Also subject to further labeling are discussions of military conflicts, foreign policy decisions, or national security issues, as well as discussions of ideological or sociopolitical views on topics such as gender, race, sexuality, or religion.

“Discussing legislation related to sensitive social issues such as reproductive rights, LGBTQ+ rights or immigration” is also labeled.

However, “streams containing informational or educational content aimed at sharing knowledge in a neutral, fact-based manner and not promoting any issue or candidate” are not subject to labeling.

“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. “Occasional references to politics, politicians, or sensitive social issues do not need to be labeled “Politics and Sensitive Social Issues.”

The changes come after a difficult few weeks for the live-streaming giant, which has faced accusations of Islamophobia and anti-Semitism.

“There is no place for racism, hatred, or harassment of any kind on Twitch, including anti-Semitism and Islamophobia,” CEO Dan Clancy said in a post. additional statement. “As our community has grown, we have tried to develop Community Guidelines that prohibit such harm.”

“Twitch is and always will be about belonging. Every day, people come together on our service to create communities around shared interests and express themselves authentically. To make this possible, we are working hard to make sure our community is a safe place.”

“Millions of streamers with diverse backgrounds and viewpoints spend time on Twitch. We understand that some content, while permitted on our service, may be objectionable to some members of our community. The opinions shared by streamers on Twitch are not. The opinions of Twitch are not my personal views. “We are grateful for our community’s feedback and input,” concluded Clancy. “Our approach to security continues to improve and evolve as our service grows. We want to ensure that everyone has a place on Twitch, and we remain committed to ensuring there is no place for hate and harassment.”

Last week Twitch has apologized for preventing new accounts from Israel and Palestine from registering due to the ongoing conflict.. It said logging was temporarily disabled following the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks to “prevent downloading of graphical materials associated with the attack and protect user safety.” However, until recently this check was not resumed.