Twitch’s Response to #ADayOffTwitch Protest

Following the #ADayOffTwitch protest, Amazon-owned streaming platform Twitch has revealed that they are currently working on tools that help combat the hate raids on the platform.

Hate raids have become one of the biggest problems on the platform in the past few weeks. These hate raids have mainly targeted members of the LGBTQ+ community on Twitch, see bots spew vile messages and slurs in chat as a way to attack the streamer and their community. Because of this, some streamers have decided to take a day off on the platform on September 1st with the #ADayOffTwitch boycott protest.

During the boycott, streamers and users ignored Twitch which resulted in Twitch seeing a significant drop in interaction on September 1st. However, it looks as though the streaming site is ready to do something about it, according to a recent mass email. Many streamers have already received an email from twitch in their inbox recently.

The email acknowledges the recent harassment that many have been subjected to through the hate raids. The message opens by insisting that streamers should not have to experience malicious and hateful attacks from anyone. The email also mentions that they are currently working on some new tools which will go a long way to ensuring better safety measures are in place on the site, though it doesn’t go into a lot of detail about what these will involve.

In waiting for Twitch to develop tools, some streamers have turned to third-party tools. Twitch notes that some of these might be “helpful” but if they compromise a streamer’s data or channel, it makes it tough for them to help. Twitch also announced that they will be hosting a Creator Camp on September 15th for those who wish to utilize the tools already on the site for better moderation.