Streamers launch new tool to tackle cyberbullying on Twitch

“Girls, just because they were born girls, they don’t have the right to breathe”, note the two streamers on the “Rebeudeter” channel, on December 20, 2022 when they make their new tool public. “We couldn’t continue our business without trying to do something on our scale “, they argue, denouncing the sexism and misogyny that irrigate the platform.

With this problem in mind, Twitchers created a bot to share moderation across multiple channels. The principle is simple: when a viewer is banned from a channel’s chat for sexism or racism, he is automatically banned for 24 hours by other channels that have joined the “Place de La Paix” initiative.. Everything is automatic and without sharing limitations between content creators. Subsequently, in order to avoid any mistake, a team of moderators has the task of verifying if the sanction is justified and extending it indefinitely.

Therefore, far from being just a limited and formal ban, this coordinated moderation implies that behaviors in a chat can have consequences on all channels in which a malicious commenter participates.

Put the responsibility for fighting cyberbullying back in Twitch’s hands

As soon as it was announced, the tool was acclaimed by big names in the French Twitch scene such as Maghla, Deujna or Le Joueur du Grenier. At the same time, Nat’ali, streamer and feminist, has reservations about an initiative taken by private individuals and wants to put the responsibility for protecting content creators back in Twitch’s hands. ” The problem I have with this type of tool is that people can choose to keep and leave what they want “. Streamer fears moderation team is voluntary, lacking proper training on racial or gender bias, and facing colossal mass of comments to referee. ” If Twitch dealt with it, they would pay people and it would fit in a little bit better », considers the streamer who sees, here, the limits of volunteering, but also the advantage that the platform can draw from it since, without having to invest financially in the project, Twitch will be able to benefit from better regulation.

The craze around “Place de la Paix” highlights Twitch’s moderation issues because, legally, the site is responsible for the hateful content it hosts. Contacted by LoseTwitch does not comment on the “Place de la Paix” initiative and says it is actively fighting against harassment : “Twitch aspires to make its community the safest and most inclusive place possible for every user to create and enjoy live entertainment. [et] acts on all observed and verified incidents of sexual harassment or abuse, and continually evolves its reporting policies, technologies, and tools to protect the community.

In the absence of publication of the data relating to these incidents and their effective resolution by the platform, this claim is impossible to verify. Twitch tells Lose that 80% of reports are resolved in less than ten minutes without clearly explaining how to resolve them.

Unsuitable moderation tools

Today, the number one streaming social network has few tools to protect racial and gender minorities from online violence and harassment.

Among them, the “banning list”, a tool close to “Place de la Paix”, established in July 2022. However, this list can only be compiled manually on the initiative of each streamer who, therefore, can only share it with 30 others content creators.

Another initiative: verifying the identity of chat users via SMS. This manipulation prevents viewers from commenting on a stream without registering their phone number with Twitch. For the streamer Nat’ali who has used this system, this measure is too burdensome for Twitchers and above all allows the platform to evade its responsibilities:

“I have been using number verification for two months and have lost subscribers. As a content creator, I find myself choosing to lose income to protect myself. » Despite the stress of hate messages arriving, he says he prefers to leave the chat open to everyone.

To provide educational tools to its community, Twitch created two videos to help prevent online harassment and provide tools to combat it. Published on February 15, 2022, these two capsules however suffer from a conspicuous lack of visibility since they accumulate no more than 1,200 views on Youtube.

Thanks to their subscriptions, their donations and the viewing of advertising, viewers are the main source of income for the platform. Therefore, limiting the actions of a toxic person makes the community healthier but, for Twitch, it also means running the risk of losing money.

Cover image: Unsplash / Caspar Camille Rubin