Twitch streamers plan to go on strike on September 1 to protest the platform’s pervasive issue with hate raids and harassment.
Various Tic streamers plan to spend September 1 away from the popular platform in response to racist, sexist, transphobic or xenophobic attacks on streamers from marginalized communities. These attacks include what many Twitch users have referred to as “hate raids,” which involve malicious actors sending out bot accounts to harass their targets.
The protest follows Twitch’s response to the #TwitchDoBetter movement on Twitter earlier this month. The movement was started in order to tackle the cases of hate speech that continue to plague the platform, with aggressive trolls and stalkers regularly finding new ways to bypass Twitch’s various moderation tools. Twitch’s response to the movement included a promise to strengthen its defenses against hate speech and harassment through improved bot and breakout detection systems.
Several Twitch streamers found the company’s response inadequate and flabby, spurring the upcoming #ADayOffTwitch event. As reported by PC player, a number of popular streamers, including Rek It Raven (who started the #TwitchDoBetter movement) and Lucia Everblack, plan to take time off the site on September 1 to show their solidarity with the victims of these heinous raids. Other creators like Deere, who was recently harassed on Twitch, have shown their support for the movement on social media.
Millions of people consume Twitch content on a regular basis, with the platform itself typically taking a significant chunk of the money streamers generate through subscriptions and donations. This has made the platform a huge success both financially and culturally, with that success mostly relying on the backs of independent creators creating content on the site. These creators are seeking more support from the platform that hosts them, asking for additional tools to protect underrepresented groups who may be more vulnerable. It is not clear whether this strike will force Twitch to take more drastic measures to tackle hate speech.
Just a few months ago, Twitch came under fire for handling allegations of sexual assault by some of its streamers. The new hate raiding trend presents another controversy that the platform has to contend with. The nature of this new trend of harassment may cause some streamers to be concerned about their safety and the integrity of the streaming website. As one of the biggest names in online entertainment, Tic seems willing to explore better ways to combat toxicity for the benefit of its users and contributors.
Source: PC Gamer
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