Twitch Updates Self-Harm Guidelines To Include Eating Disorders

thegamer.com:

Twitch has just announced updates to its community guidelines to prohibit self-destructive or self-harmful behaviors. While Twitch acknowledged it is important to discuss these sensitive topics in a constructive way, the new guidelines provide specific examples of harmful behaviors that could see content creators banned.

"Engaging in behavior that could endanger your life or the lives of those around you has always been prohibited on Twitch," wrote the streaming service on its blog today. "Last December we amended our policy language to make it clear that glorifying or encouraging this kind of behavior is prohibited. Today we’re going a step further by adding specific examples of topics that aren’t suitable for Twitch to the Community Guidelines."

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The "Self-Destructive Behavior" section of Twitch's community guidelines now lists several prohibited behaviors, such as "sharing of suicide notes and/or graphic details related to a real suicide." Twitch noted research has shown "that promoting detailed descriptions of suicide attempts can contribute to suicidal ideation and experimentation among vulnerable individuals."

Twitch also added examples that include eating disorders, such as saying you’re "pro-ana" or sharing diet plans that encourage fasting on three days and then binge eating on the fourth day.

“Eating disorders can have long lasting effects on one’s mental and physical health and have become increasingly prominent among adolescents and young adults,” explained Twitch. “As such, content that promotes weight loss strategies that either explicitly or implicitly encourage eating disorders is prohibited, as is the glorification of habits