Twitch Updates Its Policy Regarding Off-Site Misconduct

The popular streaming platform, Twitch, published a major update to its conduct policy yesterday, April 7.
The popular streaming platform, Twitch, published a major update to its conduct policy yesterday, April 7. / Twitch

Twitch published a major update to its conduct policy Wednesday, April 7.

The changes were originally announced on the platform's official Twitter page in the early afternoon. In the tweet, Twitch references its updates to its Hateful Conduct and Harassment policy launched in January 2021. This and the off-site conduct policy changes are detailed in an attached blog post.

We've broken down the new standards below.

Twitch Updates Its Policy Regarding Off-Site Misconduct

According to the blog post, the Off-Site Misconduct policy is broken into two distinct categories.

The first deals with incidents occurring both on and off the platform. It remains unchanged from its primary iteration in which, when these circumstances arise, Twitch will take all related and verifiable evidence into account. A decision will be made based on the sum of the pieces, regardless of their site.

"For example: if we’re reviewing a harassment report about an incident that happened live on stream, related or continued harassment on Twitter could be taken into account when reported to us." It wrote.

The second is where the real changes come into play. Category two is concerned exclusively with incidents that take place off-platform with the aim to "enforce against serious offenses that pose a substantial safety risk to the Twitch community."

The post goes on to list several bannable offenses before explaining that Twitch will be relying on law enforcement and be bringing on a third-party investigative team to be sure due process is done. While the post praised this anonymous team, it neglected to reveal any information about it apart from the team's experience with "conducting independent workplace and campus investigations including those related to sexual discrimination or assault."

"These investigations are vastly more complex and can take significant time and resources to resolve," it wrote, "[The team has] deep expertise in these types of cases, as well as training in conducting investigations with respect and sensitivity to all parties involved."

Twitch ended the post by notifying its members about a new e-mail address specifically made for users to anonymously report "egregious, off-service misconduct." It reaffirmed its commitment to transparency and its dedication to supporting affected parties.

"Ultimately, we are taking this step to better ensure that Twitch is as safe, inclusive, diverse, and positive an environment as, together, we can make it." It wrote.

More information, including a brief FAQ, can be found on the blog post.