Presentation
Twitch, the live streaming platform owned by Amazon, has long been a haven for gamers, content creators, and passionate broadcasters.
At the end of 2023, the platform surprised the world by announcing a controversial plan: allowing nudity on its platform. Unable to stem the abuses associated with this liberalization, the platform retracted the decision less than 48 hours later.
Twitch: A streaming platform historically dedicated to video games
Launched in June 2007, the Twitch platform was originally called Justin.tv as a streaming platform focused on broadcasting lifecasting and lifestyle content 24/7. Other types of content, including video games, have gradually been added.
In 2011, Twitch was born as a division specializing in live video gaming, allowing gamers to broadcast their gameplay in real time and viewers to interact with streamers via live chat. The platform’s success led to its acquisition in 2014 by Amazon for $970 million.
Diversification. Over the years, Twitch has evolved beyond its initial focus on gaming to include a variety of content such as music, cooking, creative projects, and live chat (Just Chat).
Also, it has seen the emergence of intriguing forms of ASMR (Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response) featuring influencers, mostly female, wearing revealing and suggestive outfits against a backdrop of relaxing ambient sounds. With this expansion of content, the platform has sought to adapt its rules and policies to reflect the growing diversity of its community.
Critical Content. For several years, thanks to its popularity, the Twitch platform has attracted significant interest from many internet users wishing to publish a variety of content, even content prohibited on other platforms. Internet libertarians, extremist political lobbyists, and creators of pornographic and violent content frequently use these new social networks to broadcast their content for as long as possible. Committed to growing its community, the Twitch platform has long been permissive regarding the content it tolerates, without officially authorizing it.
Twitch: Moderation & Sanctions with Variable Application
Host. Benefiting from the status of content host under the French Law for Confidence in the Digital Economy (Loi pour la Confiance dans l’Économie Numérique), the Twitch platform only conducts post-moderation of the content broadcast by users.
Subject to its active participation in combating certain types of content—terrorism, organized crime, intellectual property and child pornography, and the protection of public order—only the absence of a response within a reasonable timeframe following notification of illegal content can lead to Twitch being held liable.
In this context, and in order to protect its neutrality, Twitch strives to minimize its moderation and control in order to safeguard both its protective legal status and user satisfaction. This effectively prohibits certain types of content—pornographic and illegal—and offers a range of sanctions that can vary from a simple notification to the permanent removal of an influencer’s channel.
Discretionary Sanctions. The power of social networks to impose sanctions is at the heart of numerous controversies, as the verification of compliance with established rules is often discretionary and opaque, without internet users—whether users or influencers—being able to truly understand the underlying principles.
Unlike a court order, platforms are not subject to due process, the requirement to provide a detailed explanation of their reasons, or to offer avenues of appeal to those sanctioned. Consequently, the sanctions imposed can sometimes be unfair, disproportionate, and/or excessive.
Amouranth is an American streamer with millions of followers on social media platforms, including Twitch, for content related to dance, ASMR, and hot tubs. Since 2016, she has been temporarily banned from the platform more than seven times, primarily for alleged nudity. Several experts agree that Twitch’s sanctions are lenient, particularly given the influencer’s high profile.
Dr Disrespect, a gaming influencer, was, conversely, permanently banned from the platform in 2020 without any explanation or statement from the platform – the Dr Disrespect case.
Obscure Terms and Conditions. Criticized for several years, the numerous rules issued by social networks regarding permitted or prohibited content suffer from a critical and deliberate lack of clarity. The terms of service, ethical charters, codes of conduct, and other informational or legal documents of social networks frequently use vague and imprecise terms that are freely open to interpretation by the platforms.
These criticisms are also found in most End User License Agreements (EULAs) of video game publishers.
In September 2022, YouTube offered clarification on permitted and prohibited content without, however, providing a clear framework for permissible actions. Content of a sexual nature and nudity in fictional or scripted videos (content from TV series, films, video games), and in content intended for educational purposes, which does not cross the line into sexually gratifying content, will be subject to “less strict” control[1].
Conversely, sexually explicit sounds in ASMR content, the use of sex toys, unwanted sexualization, or sexual acts in videos, thumbnails, avatars, banners, and posts will be removed, and their creators will be penalized.
These examples reveal the complex task facing publishers: striking a balance between content published by influencers and creators on the one hand, and the persistent abuse and classification of erotic and pornographic content on the other.
Twitch & Feminism: A Difficult Reconciliation of Opposing Interests
Twitch’s regulation of audiovisual content has faced particular challenges in the face of protests and criticism from feminist user groups and internet users.
Many streamers and influencers feature content that showcases their bodies, pushing the boundaries of sexual content or nudity—ASMR, inflatable hot tubs, bikinis, etc. In this context, numerous child protection and women’s rights organizations have denounced Twitch’s lax approach, which allows any audience access to morally reprehensible content too often associated with pornography or eroticism.
It is true that many adult content creators use mainstream social media to promote their content, which is also available on other platforms, notably OnlyFans and Mym. The most vehement critics condemned Twitch for profiting by monetizing women’s bodies through its platform.
Around the same time, these same content creators denounced Twitch’s puritanical stance, which prevents female content creators from freely offering the content they wish to share. The stricter rules imposed on women compared to men, particularly regarding dress codes and the partially tolerated nudity, are also frequently criticized.
Given the legal challenges, particularly those related to child protection, and in the absence of a general solution, Twitch has focused on improving the categorization of its content, notably by creating the “Pools, Hot Tubs & Beaches” category, which now includes all content deemed unsuitable for young audiences.
However, Twitch has consistently refused to allow sexually explicit content, fearing it would become a pornographic platform with catastrophic consequences for its image and commercial partnerships, as well as for Amazon.
Twitch & Sexually Explicit Content: Authorization Turned into a Nightmare
Morgpie. On December 8, 2023, “Morgpie,” an influencer and creator of online pornographic content, broadcast a fundraising stream for Doctors Without Borders on her Twitch account, carefully exposing only her shoulders and/or the upper part of her chest. As the latest example of users’ attempts to test or understand the imposed framework, this broadcast resulted in the temporary sanctioning of Morgpie and the revision of the platform’s guidelines[2].
Content Review. Unifying policies regarding sexually suggestive content, Twitch introduced a “Content Classification Labels (CCL)” system for better information and transparency regarding the videos offered. Subject to proper labeling, content highlighting breasts, buttocks, or the pelvic region, fictional content exposing female body parts including breasts, genitals, and buttocks, body art on people’s breasts and buttocks, and erotic dances (striptease, twerking, grinding, pole dancing) are now permitted.
Angela Hession, Head of Customer Relations at Twitch, reportedly commented: “The previous policy regarding sexually suggestive content no longer met industry standards and disproportionately penalized streamers identified as female.”[3]
This authorization lasted only 24 hours, following a disastrous backlash from users in response to the explosion of this new type of content.
“Meta Topless.” Taking advantage of the relaxation of restrictions regarding “artistic nudity,” several content creators simulated full nudity, using censor bars to cover illicit areas on their streams, resulting in significant spikes in traffic.
Whether for amusement or provocation, many users expressed their displeasure with the dissemination of adult content, which they labeled “softcore pornography.” Furthermore, based on the concept of artistic nudity, the platform was quickly flooded with sexually explicit drawings that violated the platform’s rules.
In a complete about-face, Twitch, undoubtedly overwhelmed by this content and after numerous bans, presented its new policy on December 15th, announcing that depictions of real or fictional nudity would no longer be permitted on Twitch[4].
Twitch’s sovereign decision to revoke its own content reform leaves streamers and Twitch itself once again in a perpetual quest to find the balance between freedom of content creation and the responsibility of those involved.
Through experimentation, at the risk of sanctions from the platform, guidelines for accepted practices will gradually allow for the identification of behaviors not permitted but at least tolerated by Twitch until the next reversal of position.
The final word: “And then you had those who pushed the envelope too far, sort of like Don Juans of streaming who flirted with the limits. Twitch had to sweep them off their feet.” “It wasn’t a question of rights, it was like kicking out a drunk who’s causing a disturbance at a wedding. Order had to be restored.”
[1] Google YouTube Platform Support, Changes to our policies regarding nudity and sexual content, September 8, 2022, https://support.google.com/youtube/thread/178443119/modification-de-nos-r%C3%A8gles-concernant-la-nudit%C3%A9-et-les-contenus-%C3%A0-caract%C3%A8re-sexuel?hl=fr
[2] Actustream, Twitch and sexual content: the update that changes everything, December 14, 2023, https://actustream.fr/articles/Twitch-et-sexe-mise-a-jour-autorisant-nudite; Dextero, Twitch updates its policy following the “meta topless” incident, December 14, 2023, https://www.dexerto.fr/divertissement/twitch-politique-meta-topless-1529422/.
[3] C. Béchade, Twitch relaxes its rules regarding sexuality and nudity, Clubic, December 14, 2023, https://www.clubic.com/actualite-512404-twitch-assouplit-ses-regles-autour-de-la-sexualite-et-de-la-nudite.html.
[4] V. Beurnez, “We went too far”: Twitch backtracks on artistic nudity, BFM TV, 15.12.2023, https://www.bfmtv.com/tech/actualites/streaming/nous-sommes-alles-trop-loin-twitch-fait-machine-arriere-sur-la-nudite-artistique_AV-202312150779.html.
