World’s biggest video-game streaming site tries to curb “hate raids”
Twitch, the world’s biggest streaming site for watching video games, announced that it would introduce new measures to prevent “hate raids” that include antisemitic abuse, images of swastikas, and other racist or homophobic abuse.
The move follows complaints from users in minority groups after some users of Twitch were subjected to high levels of abuse in recent months in so-called “hate raids.” Founded in 2011 and bought in 2014 by Amazon, Twitch receives more than 30 million site-visits per day.
The hate raids vary in scale from a handful of abusive messages to hundreds. It is thought bots may also be used for posting offensive spam or ultra-violent images.
Twitch came under increasing pressure to act after the hashtag “#TwitchDoBetter” was launched on Twitter and became a magnet for complaints by regular victims of “hate raids.” In August, Twitch announced that new measures such as “account verification improvements” would be introduced later this year.
In the meantime, however, players say the abuse continues. A New York-based gamer of Jewish and Chinese background who uses the name Chonki said that his stream had been inundated with antisemitic messages and images of swastikas. “The hate raids have not slowed down whatsoever; they only seem to be getting worse,” he said.
Players have tools designed to filter abuse but hate raid victims say that hacker-slang which purposely misspells words and banned terms is used to evade filters. Mark Griffiths, Director of Nottingham Trent University’s International Gaming Unit, said that “determined trolls” would “always find ways around” the tools designed to stop them.
Streamers such as Chonki who are angry that Twitch has failed to keep hate-raiders off of the site have suggested various ways in which Twitch could act. Twitch, said Chonki, was “taking 50% of my income” and that “they can’t even protect us from hate raids.”
Campaign Against Antisemitism has expanded our coverage of antisemitism worldwide. Please contact us if you would like to share feedback or volunteer to assist with this project.
