Twitch has a growing problem of toxicity, and it doesn’t appear to be going away, and some could argue that Twitch’s inconsistency in handling and/or governing these issues, and they allocation of bans and suspensions, isn’t helping matters.
A new study from the Anti-Defamation League (h/t Variety), otherwise known as the ADL, showed that around 37% of Americans experienced severe hate and harassment online during 2018, including sexual harassment, stalking, and physical threats.
Per the study; 6% claim that they encountered some of their harassment on social media platform Facebook, 19% experienced it on social media platform Twitter, while 17% were on broadcasting and video content platform YouTube.
When the study broke it down further, it found that 47% reported experiencing harassment on Twitch, followed by Reddit at 38%, Facebook at 37%, and Discord 36%.
“It’s deeply disturbing to see how prevalent online hate is, and how it affects so many Americans,” ADL CEO Jonathan A. Greenblatt said.
“Cyberhate is not limited to what’s solely behind a screen; it can have grave effects on the quality of everyday lives — both online and offline. People are experiencing hate and harassment online every day and some are even changing their habits to avoid contact with their harassers.”
Although Twitch has attempted to curve toxicity by making a number of updates to it’s community guidelines over the past year, making the stance that “hate simply has no place in the Twitch community.”
“Twitch is a community of diverse thinkers and creators, and we want it to be a place where that diversity and creativity continues to thrive” Twitch said, via Variety.
“We’re committed to creating a safer and more positive experience for everyone on Twitch. We’re investing a lot this year in our teams as well as in better tools, policies and practices, and communication so everyone in the community understands the standards of participating and has the tools to customize their experience.”
