Your favorite Twitch streamer might be taking a break tomorrow.
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#ADayOffTwitch is a one-day strike of the streaming platform by streamers, set for Wednesday. Their grievance with the company is what they see as its inaction when it comes to stopping “hate raids” and other forms of harassment.
Streamers RekItRaven, ShineyPen and Lucia Everblack came up with the idea for the protest, following a number of hate raids, which are when users employ bots to fill a channel’s chat with harassment. In early August, RekItRaven tweeted a video of a raid in action.
The group is asking Twitch to:
- Hold a roundtable discussion with affected creators to assist with the creation and implementation of a more proactive and comprehensive toolset to combat abuse.
- Create proactive protection to be implemented immediately, enabling creators to select account age of prospective chatters and allow or deny incoming comments.
- Remove the ability to attach more than three Twitch accounts to one email address.
- Provide transparency into the actions being taken to protect creators, the timeframe for implementing tools, and the involvement of the Twitch Safety Advisory Council.
Twitch says it supports a #ADayOffTwitch and the streamers participating in the protest.
“No one should have to experience malicious and hateful attacks based on who they are or what they stand for, and we are working hard on improved channel-level ban evasion detection and additional account improvements to help make Twitch a safer place for creators,” a Twitch spokesperson said in an email Tuesday.
This isn’t the first time Twitch has come under fire regarding harassment. Women who participate in hot tub streams on Twitch said they experienced abuse daily.
