Twitch Clarifies Harassment Policy, Words Like Simp Not Banned

Twitch clarified their policy and told fans that words like simp and incel are not banned [...]

By Aaron Perine

Twitch clarified their policy and told fans that words like simp and incel are not banned outright. Fans of the streaming platform were very confused when the news broke this week. But, Twitch had to get out the word after all those posts yesterday. The Terms of Service have not been changed in some sort of grandiose way, but there will be a little bit of a tilt towards keeping the community safer than it was previously. That means that people just can't hurl these kinds of insults at each other as readily as they did in the past. Big social media companies are no strangers to these kinds of tightrope walks. Often their rules look very welcoming and rigid on the surface, while behind the scenes, they do little to curb harassment on their platforms. So, Twitch is trying to be proactive, but it remains unclear what they can really do to improve the situation. Check out what they had to say about the switch down below.

"We wanted to clear up any misunderstandings about language that can be used on Twitch. At the core of it, we're focused on doing what we can to protect our community from harassment," Twitch said. "We do not have a blanket ban on the use of words like "simp" in casual banter, but will take action when words like this (amongst others) are used to harass and harm community members. Check out our hateful conduct and harassment policy to learn more"

It wasn't long before the discussion began to trend on Twitter and the company had to clarify it's stance. In some comments to Slasher, the platform clarified why it was going after those words exactly and how this sort of targeting was going to help.

Twitch wrote, "We will take action against the use of terms like 'simp', 'incel' or 'virgin' specifically when they are being used to negatively refer to another person's sexual practices. Using these terms on their own wouldn't lead to an enforcement but we would take action if they were used repeatedly in a harassing manner. We deny emotes related to these terms and take them down when they are reported to us. We have a stricter policy on emotes overall because they can be used across Twitch so we take more proactive measures to minimize the potential for harm."

The company's previous policy release said on Twitter, "Our updated policy takes a clearer and more consistent stance against hate and harassment, and gives you greater insight on what is and isn't acceptable on Twitch. Hateful conduct and harassment have always been prohibited, but we've added more details and specific examples to help you understand how the policy is applied in practice."

"We're sharing the policy well before it goes into effect to ensure you have enough time to read it, ask questions, and give feedback," they added, "Learn more about our Creator Camp livestream on Dec. 11th at 10am PT. We'll go over the policy and answer questions from chat. All are welcome!"

Do the new Twitch changes make sense to you? Let us know down in the comments!

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