Twitch Says It Will Block Chronic Spreaders of Misinformation


Live streaming site Twitch, which has become an important internet communication service loved by video gamers, said on Thursday it has created new rules aimed at reducing restrictions. terrible suppliers of misinformation.

Acknowledging the real-world harms with its rapidly expanding influence, the company said it will ban “harmful spreaders of misinformation who consistently post misinformation on or off Twitch.”

Twitch will only take down channels that meet a few criteria. The company added that in order to contravene the new policy, users must persistently share harmful misinformation that has been largely refuted, adding that they “chosen these criteria because, taken together, they pose the highest risk of harm, including promoting real-world harm.” ”

Angela Hession, Twitch’s vice president of trust and security, said in a statement that the site is “taking this precautionary step and updating our policies to ensure that these spreaders of misinformation do not find their way into our service.”

Twitch started 15 years ago as a small start-up called Justin.tv. it was Bought by Amazon In 2014, it became a major internet platform widely used by video game gamers, where famous content creators and ordinary people stream every moment of their daily lives.

According to company data, approximately 31 million people visit Twitch every day, and more than eight million streams are made each month. Much of the content is associated with video games, with streams about popular games like Call of Duty and Fortnite.

The company identified the new policy not as a response to existing issues, but as a step to curb misinformation surges that could affect the platform.

Twitch argued that misinformation was less of a problem than it was on its platform. other social platformsin part, because the long but ephemeral nature of livestreams makes it difficult for lies on Twitch to be taken out of context and go viral. The company said the new policy will initially affect fewer than 100 channels.

However, misinformation experts he consulted, such as the Global Disinformation Index, an unbiased research team, told Twitch: a handful of users may explain the predominance of online lies.

The misinformation covered by the new policy includes content about dangerous medical treatments, lies about Covid-19 vaccines, “lies supported by networks of violent conspiracies”, content that “undermines the integrity of a political or civic process” – election lies. fraud and content that could harm people in emergencies such as forest fires and gunfire.

Twitch added that the policy would also apply to media channels controlled by the Russian state that spread misinformation, adding that so far it has found only one channel with little activity.

Twitch in general stricter rules more about what he sees than other social media platforms. users can express. But in 2020, after platforms like YouTube and Twitter squashed far-right conspiracy theorists who put forward false theories about the presidential election, Twitch has seen an increase in such streamers using it as a new place to make money and spread lies.

Followers of the baseless QAnon conspiracy theory, which suggests that former President Donald J. Trump is fighting Democratic pedophiles, were particularly well represented among this group of several dozen Twitch users.

In April, Twitch told The New York Times that it was developing a misinformation policy. It said it will “take action against users who violate our community policies against harmful content that promotes or encourages self-harming behavior, harassment, or the attempt or threat of physical harm to others, including misinformation.”

Also, last year the company announced a policy This will allow people who have committed crimes or serious crimes in real life or on other online platforms to suspend their accounts, including those involved in violent extremism or members of a hate group.

QAnon content was still allowed, though, as Twitch said at the time that it didn’t consider QAnon a hate group. A Twitch spokesperson said the new policy includes QAnon as a conspiracy theory promoting violence.

Some channels have also spread health-related conspiracy theories: one belonging to Zak Paine, a man with over 17,000 followers, pushing disproved theories about vaccines and cancer while promoting the QAnon conspiracy theory.

In one broadcast, she and a guest encouraged their viewers to drink a bleach solution that claims to cure cancer but is recommended by the Food and Drug Administration. said it was dangerous. Other streamers, such as Terpsichore Maras-Lindeman, have fought to scuttle the outcome of the 2020 presidential election.

Minutes after the new policy went into effect, channels owned by Ms. Maras-Lindeman and Mr. Paine disappeared. Mr. Paine, who was broadcasting live at the time, was cut in the middle of a pre-recorded commercial. They were replaced with the following message: “This channel is currently unavailable due to violations of Twitch’s community guidelines or terms of service.”

Both could not be immediately reached for comment.



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