Twitch finally addresses its worrying deepfake issues with new bannable rules

Sexualized deepfake content has been plaguing social media for months, creating lewd images and videos of female streamers without their consent.

It was only a matter of time before it also arrived on the streaming platform Twitch. After a scandal involving streamer Atrioc in January, the issue was tackled by the community, pushing the platform to take action.

In a blog post shared on March 7, Twitch labeled this content as “personally violating and beyond upsetting.”

While deepfake content, dubbed Synthetic NCEI (non-consensual exploitative images) in Twitch’s policy, is already prohibited, new rules are aiming to enforce it with better clarity and efficiency.

Related: Ludwig addresses Atrioc’s deepfake scandal by prioritizing the voices of victimized women

As such, the Adult Sexual Violence and Exploitation policy and Adult Nudity policy will be updated to include those terms. In addition, a Creator Camp tackling the Synthetic NCEI issue will take place on March 14.

In January, debates about deepfake content entered streaming after a content creator accidentally showed a website that featured deepfake photos of Pokimane.

Many gaming personalities reacted to the controversy, voicing support for victimized women and begging Twitch to ban this content more effectively before it takes the broadcast platform by storm.

Related: QTCinderella vows to sue deepfake website Atrioc was caught watching

The platform outlined that deepfake content is not an issue on Twitch for the time being but a major issue for female streamers who have to deal with their image being taken without their consent.

These new rules aim to “help streamers protect themselves” and to better identify what is and what isn’t deepfake porn and tackle it more efficiently.

They were updated after listening to the community’s feedback, and consulting with experts and streamers.