Twitch to reportedly start perma-banning streamers who are involved in severe abuse and harassment allegation cases

After days of near-constant sharing of personal stories of sexual assault and harassment in the esports, streaming, and gaming communities, Twitch said it is is removing alleged abusers from its platform. 

Twitch is going to begin dishing out permanent suspensions to those streamers who are involved in the most severe allegations and cases, according to esports journalist Rod “Slasher” Breslau,

Not all severe cases of assault and harassment will be immediately acted upon, as the incidents took place away from Twitch. The company said it will need more information, with some of the bigger cases being reported to the authorities. 

Twitch has also added a way for users to confidentially report harassment using new tools on each streamer’s channel page. 

Along with this change, there is an update going live for AutoMod and the Banned Words list that will focus on reducing harassment and hateful conduct. Further review of the company’s Hateful Conduct and Harassment policies and enhanced offensive username detection are also being worked on now. 

“We acknowledge that we can’t singlehandedly tackle pervasive issues across the gaming and broader internet communities, but we take our responsibility as a service for our community seriously,” Twitch said. “We will continue to assess accusations against people affiliated with Twitch and explore ways Twitch can collaborate with other industry leaders on this important issue.”

Twitch will need to be careful implementing this system to ensure that it does not get overwhelmed with false claims, but the company addressing the need for extra details in most cases is a good sign.