Twitch Updates Content Policies With New Gambling Restrictions

Twitch has updated its policies for content creators regarding streams that contain links to sites which offer gambling services. This means that while people will be able to stream themselves gambling where it’s permitted by laws applicable to streamers’ locations, streamers will no longer be able to direct their viewers to those gambling sites any longer nor will they be able to offer people referral codes to use if people choose to visit those sites on their own.

The new policies regarding gambling on Twitch were sent out to streamers in a creator update announcement this week. While the new gambling restrictions were announced on August 11th and are technically in effect at this time, we won’t actually see the new policies enforced until August 17th to give people time to adjust to the new standards and to remove offending content from their channels.

“To prevent harm and scams created by questionable gambling services that sponsor content on Twitch, we will prohibit sharing links and/or referral codes to sites that offer slots, roulette, or dice games,” Twitch’s updated terms of service said. “We will continue to monitor gambling-related content and update our approach as needed. To give you time to remove this content from your channel, enforcement will be delayed until August 17, 2021.”

While different “metas” come and go on Twitch as creators capitalize on trends, gambling has long been a contentious subject on the streaming platform. Content creators have stressed that it’s just for entertainment purposes and that other people shouldn’t expect to win big or win anything from gambling through these online services, but many have frowned upon the act of gambling for the entertainment of others overall due to the likelihood of varied audiences including young, impressionable viewers. Streamers can set up their streams to be geared towards those 18 and up, but that doesn’t prevent someone from watching the stream if they choose to do so regardless.

Twitch said in its new terms of service that it plans to keep watching the gambling trends on Twitch and will take actions accordingly, so this probably won’t be the last time that we’ve seen new policies introduced that mold what gambling streams look like.