Twitch updates policies to prevent spread of misinformation
eurogamer.netTwitch has updated its policies to prevent the spread of harmful misinformation on the platform.
In a blog post, Twitch explains a change to its Spam, Scams and Malicious Conduct Policy, with the goal to prohibit «individuals whose online presence is dedicated to spreading harmful, false information from using Twitch».
As per the community guidelines, Twitch reserves the right to suspend accounts for inappropriate or harmful conduct.
Twitch does clearly state that «this update will likely not impact you or the streamers you love on Twitch» and the policy will not be enforced against one-off statements.
The platform has partnered with «over a dozen» researchers and experts on the spread of misinformation to mitigate risks in the community.
«We've learned that Harmful Misinformation Actors account for a disproportionate amount of damaging, widely debunked misinformation online,» reads the blog post.
«Together, we've identified three characteristics that all of these actors share: their online presence — whether on or off Twitch — is dedicated to (1) persistently sharing (2) widely disproven and broadly shared (3) harmful misinformation topics, such as conspiracies that promote violence.
»We've selected these criteria because taken together they create the highest risk of harm including inciting real world harm. We will only enforce against actors who meet all three of these criteria, and our Off-Service investigations team will be conducting thorough reviews into each case."
Reports on suspected misinformation spreading can be sent to OSIT@twitch.tv.
The guidelines also give a selection of examples of content that is shared by «harmful misinformation actors» based on recent world events:
«While harmful misinformation is
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