Remove hate groups
Remove the hate group that spreads misinformation and hate mongering while promoting abuse towards autistics and replace it with Autistic Women and Nonbinary Network.
For more information on the harms of Autism Speaks:
https://autisticadvocacy.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/AutismSpeaksFlyer2020.pdf
https://autisticmama.com/do-not-support-autism-speaks/
And an actual video from Autism Speaks where they glorify killing us (TW: I'm not kidding. They glorify a parent wanting to kill their kid for being autistic)
Our goal is to provide streamers with a wide variety of charitable organizations and enable them to decide who to support. The scale of this program may mean that people within our community may not agree with or support all of the included organizations, even if they are currently compliant with our policies.
Twitch partners with the PayPal Giving Fund, and they monitor charities on a daily basis for verification of their 501(c)(3) status in country-specific registries, compliance with PayPal Acceptable Use Policy, and more. We don’t allow charities that violate our hateful conduct policies on Twitch, or whose organization or leadership engage in or promote behaviors that violate our Off-Service policy. At this time, this organization does not violate our Off-Service policy.
Thank you for taking the time to share your concerns with us. We’ve added a number of charities that support Autism-related causes, including the Autistic Women and Nonbinary Network, based on feedback from the community. We encourage you to continue sharing charities you would like to see included or that you believe may violate our policies so we can evaluate. You can learn more about charity on Twitch in our help article.
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autisticompulsive commented
Removing the charity that is openly transphobic but leaving the charity that is openly ableist and eugenicist speaks volumes about how Twitch regards the autistic and disabled communities. It's also worth noting that autistic people are much, much more likely to be trans than the general population, so the decision to remove just the LGB Alliance and not Autism Speaks still = significant harm to the trans community. Which throws doubt on the decision to remove the LGB Alliance in the first place. Does Twitch actually care about marginalised groups, or was it just for optics?
Please look at the resources people are posting. Please listen to what we are saying. Autism Speaks is just as much a hate group as the LGB Alliance.
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gmRubix commented
As an autistic gal myself, I would just like to say that Autism Speaks is not a group I want anyone to associate with. They claim to be a group that supports autistic rights, they have on numerous occasions prevented autistic people from getting their voices heard. I hate this group.
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paper__crane commented
Autism Speaks is a group that cares more about the comfort of parents who don't want their kids to autistic. The practices they encourage are harmful and unconscionable. They should not be supported by anyone.
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Mogubea commented
The fact that Twitch consciously decided that this hate group does not violate policy speaks volumes. I hope this decision is re-evaluated quickly.
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DuJello commented
In a previous post, Twitch stated that autism speaks is "compliant with" their policies on hateful conduct. This is SIMPLY not true. The policy as stated allegedly protects against hate, violence, denigration, or harassment based on disability. That short list is pretty much just autism speaks' stated goal. They advocate literal actual eugenics, promote demonstrably harmful "therapy", and have launched hate campaigns promoting parents to abuse their autistic children. This is an extremely clear case however you look at it. This cannot be allowed to stand.
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Kadomi_de commented
Please don't promote hate groups and remove this charity.
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KitschAnnon commented
Please twitch, stop platforming hate and eugenics. Autism Speaks does not support autistics, but rather profits from our demise and suffering. Twitch should be ashamed for being convinced to platform such hateful groups
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flibety commented
Autism Speaks is a hate group that supports the research of Nazi scientist Hans Asperger and seeks to 'cure' autistic people the same way gay conversion groups do.
Almost half of their money goes toward employee payments and the board members make over 100k while they only used around a third of their money to actually support autistic people. And speaking of their board members, none of them are even autistic. Its all non-autistic people getting paid significant amounts of money as they further the eugenicist idea of a 'cure' to autism.
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LunaNightshadeBooks commented
"Autism Speaks" is known for harming autistic people rather than helping them - which is the opposite of what the name implies.
This has to be re-evaluated.
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AqueousAblution commented
Boy, can't wait to tell all my friends that Twitch knowingly and willfully supports child abuse and eugenics! I'll be taking my money elsewhere unless this is corrected, and I advise others to do the same. Support your favorite streamers through means other than Twitch and look into using adblockers if you can, this company doesn't deserve a single cent while this persists.
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Silkensword commented
Just hopping into the comments to voice my support in this matter- autism speaks lives off of the backs of people with good intentions. Streamers may have a duty of due diligence in the matter of which charity they support, but a company that openly supports eugenicist policies against autistic people should simply not be given the opportunity to profit off of people who want to support us. If there are concerns that autism speaks may sue as current charity moderation policies would not allow for their exclusion, then you have a moral obligation to change those policies.
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Canadianpanda67 commented
It's very concerning that Twitch would allow a 'charity' that promotes eugenics. If Twitch won't remove Autism Speaks for the right reason at least remove it to save itself from a PR disaster.
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Aulannpsy commented
As someone who has suffered both physically and mentally because of the false information and ideals that Autism Speaks does. Hundreds of children get abused by teachers and parents because of the statements that this organization has said like how "autism is a disease" I am not a disease, I am a person, but I was treated worst then an animal. To cure autism is to kill me for as they themselves have said "I AM AUTISM"
If you truly care about your community and the safety of them. You must remove this awful organization from the list otherwise, I, and many others will no longer support or use your site.
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jupiterisstupider0 commented
If literal eugenics doesn't violate twitch's TOS, they need to change their TOS
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MACMAN2003c commented
Twitch should replace autism speaks with the Autistic Self Advocacy Network.
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WatashiMachine commented
Look at this logically, Twitch - if a charity claiming to support autistic people has overwhelmingly negative feedback FROM the autistic community, it's fair to say that it's not a good or helpful charity for the people it claims to support. Listen to your autistic streamers and viewers, we do not want AS to be an available option. We are telling you it is dangerous. Please listen to us.
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SimplyxJason commented
Cassandra Crossman does a fantastic job at detailing Autism Speaks' ableist history and eugenics-oriented practices: https://intheloopaboutneurodiversity.wordpress.com/2019/09/13/the-ableist-history-of-autism-speaks/
To mimic the sentiment of others, do not give Twitch your money. Cancel subscriptions. Refuse to use their on-platform charity system. Donate externally and support your favorite creators directly and elsewhere.
Twitch needs to implement better practices to prevent hate organizations from gaining platforms by disguising themselves as charities.
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slotheroozstreams commented
like. i thought it was so blatantly and ridiculously obvious at this point how bad and untrustworthy autism speaks is? but apparently not! like okay i guess twitch is gonna gladly support ableist eugenics and want autistic people eradicated from the face of the earth! very comforting thought /s
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sanniedv commented
I expected better from twitch
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DaspienDare commented
Keep our communities safe, please.