My right to exist shouldn't be a "sensitive social issue"

With this label and its definitions, Twitch’s actions promote censorship and silence of not only LGBTQIA2S+ folx but BIPOC & Disabled folks, as our identities are politicised and weaponised against us. Because of the growth of harm against us globally via federal laws and continued neglect for many of us in medicine as well, censoring us is the “simpler” way to “keep the peace” — or rather keep gaining money from advertisers and communities whose views and pursuits are rooted in bigotry and their apologists' rhetoric therein.

If Twitch were to delete or refine the label to where minorities WEREN’T scrutinised, the platform would be safer, but the damage is already done; Twitch’s actions may very well imply an admittance of seeing minorities only as something worthy of representation if we fit their “model minority” mould. What “guilds” we have with Twitch seem to be lies and performative allyship at its most potent. If they truly talked to their guilds and ambassadors like they claim they do this likely wouldn’t have happened, so this either shows they go behind the guilds and ambassadors’ backs, were not transparent to said guilds and ambassadors when disclosing changes prior to release, or said ambassadors and guilds are just mascots for Twitch’s attempts to seem like an ally while they in reality only cater more to those with money.

Twitch, why do you claim to be supportive of us when points #3 (civil unrest, advocacy), #5 (gender, race, sexuality, religion), and #6 (legislation related to rights of minorities) clearly note vague language that could make minorities more targets of hate raids and false bans more than we already have been? This could've been so much less of a stink if you, I dunno, integrated the clarification that educational and personal points or quips don't need to be labelled "political", but you kept that part out of the main definition; why?

Twitch, do better.

To those impacted looking for alternate platforms, try YouTube or Picarto. Even with YouTube’s own censorship problems I wouldn’t be surprised if they were better than Twitch; at least on Picarto there’s less evidence of hate raids and abuse of ToS to target minority creators’ livestreams as has been the case on Twitch, to my knowledge. YouTube still has its problems with, say, copyright abuse that disproportionately impacts minority creators, but it’s still better than Twitch at the moment it seems. Picarto, by contrast, is much smaller a platform that started for artists but has expanded to gaming and other notable streaming genres.

Congrats, Twitch; YOU made this political. Not us. We just exist while your perceptions and assumptions harm us.

Well, I was thinking of becoming a Twitch streamer, but I guess I'll go elsewhere if this is implemented.

the bullet point is soooo vague, either do your job or shut down, please. thank you.

it's great if you love Hassan, he's making unnecessary remarks so just remove the root of the problem. I don't care if he was at Twitchcon, remove him.

The existence of trans women and men shouldn't be a crime, nor should it be a professional aberration. It also shouldn't be relegated to such unreasonable filtration that can be easily weaponized by bigots through the report system.

Can we not have that clause please? Thanks

oh, a blanket "we're going to start slamming people for being lgbtq+" rule

Strongly urging the removal of the terms as well. Is mentioning I have a boyfriend going to get flagged by someone malicious to claim it's "sensitive"? This is absurd, and clearly just Bezos mullenwagging his fingers into things.

This'll get abused easily.

As an openly trans and queer creator, those topics come up naturally throughout my content. If this change goes through and my very existence is considered a "sensitive social issue" I will happily refuse to use the label, take my ban, and bring my audience over to a better platform that isn't slowly killing itself and it's community, and make sure everyone knows the shithole that your platform has become.

At best, we will just see a rise in harassment like when tags were introduced(I got hate raided for using the transgender tag, eventually removed it for over a year), at worst you get the mass exodus of LGBTQ+ people from your platform :3

A persons existence is not a "Sensitive issue" and should never be labeled as such. This is discrimination full stop.

I think it's very telling that the list singles out a very particular kind of political speech. We're not allowed to talk about Trans Rights or Black Lives Matter or Bodily Autonomy or any of these other areas where there is obvious systemic inequality.
Do you know what we are allowed to talk about? There is nothing in this guideline that says you can't advocate for weapons ownership. There is nothing in this guideline that limits discussions around "women's safety" that are used as proxy issues for transphobia. There is nothing in this guideline that states that expressing support for police, or any other institution, at a time when they are in the public eye for the harms they have caused stands on the same ground as criticism against them.

This is not a system that is being introduced to protect peoples interests (outside of advertisers), this is a political stance that Twitch has chosen to take, and it should be treated as such. Choosing to restrict discussion around social issues only serves to maintain the status quo, and it is not the place of corporations to decide which changes to that status quo (for better or for worse) can happen.

Agreed, by even stating that LGBTQIA+ rights are 'sensitive social issues' implies that it's some kind of 'valid debate' whether or not they should have equal rights. By putting this label on, Twitch is saying that they believe that perhaps the LGBTQIA+ community shouldn't have equal rights.

You genuinely cannot be serious right now With this change how idiotic and stupid can this company get You should have the right to talk about Issues you feel strongly about

Trans rights are human rights, and they shall not be infringed.

Stop bowing to Nazis. Wait, you literally only care about money- ok, lgbt people are a much larger demographic than the far right, despite what it may seem like. And people are lgbt at any age- you don’t want to lose access to so many young paying customers, right? ‘Sensitive social issue’ since when do other people get a referendum on our existence. Absolute travesty. So much of the internet is becoming hostile to us to appease the far right. It will be more profitable if you don’t. There, does that get through to you? Is that speaking your language?

the final TWO bullet points should be removed. Interactions with the ideas of Race, gender and sexuality are apart of everyone's lived experience.

According to this, anyone talking about being straight, white, or cis need these labels. This entire TOS change is incredibly dangerous and is akin school "gender bans". Its unenforceable at best and at worst will only target queer and bipoc people.

Discussion of my existence or that of my friends, important world matters, and real issues cannot and will not be boiled down to something that must be provided as a warning. I will not partake in this classification and nobody should - any moderation actions based on this is deceitful and harmful to society. Twitch should know better and should be doing better by the marginalized groups they're attempting to silence with this new rule.

Remove this.

It shouldn't have to be said, but simply being who I am and loving who I love without spreading fear and hatred isn't a "sensitive issue," it's common sense. My existence was never political to begin with, it's basic human rights. Do not pander to bigotry, do not pander to those that stoke the flames of war and violence, do not pander to bad faith actors that wish I was dead and had no freedom nor independence of my own just because I may have a disability, etc.

If someone's going to have a meltdown just because I'm different than them and I don't stoke fear or hatred like they do, that's their own problem, not mine! Do better, Twitch! Do not encourage harassment! Remove the final bullet point in Article VII, there's way too much a chance that this could be abused! This isn't hyperbole either, this is just inviting toxicity!

I fully agree. This has too much potential to be abused. This has too much potential to demonetize marginalized creators for Ad Revenue, as well as be used as a cudgel to get their accounts flagged.

Just... NO... *******.