We have a spicy one today EarlyGamers, Twitch in a recent Town Hall made it clear that targeted insults will be a bannable offense. The words simp, incel, and virgin were specifically mentioned. Welcome to 2020!
Literally, the moment after I pitched this article idea in our incredibly professional morning content meeting, I was met with several comments from other writers ranging from "huh?" to "really the word virgin?" So to say the least, it seems this news is rather polarizing. Everyone tends to have an opinion about free speech or safe spaces and in the digital age, things seem to be trending towards censorship.
So here’s a clip of the Twitch Town Hall and what exactly was said:
Under Twitch's new policy, words like "simp", "incel", and "virgin" will be considered insults and against TOS pic.twitter.com/aFC3y7Zmvy
— DEXERTO.COM (@Dexerto) December 16, 2020
Important to note that it will be bannable for “repeat offenders” and how you interpret these rules is always left intentionally vague and open to interpretation. So if you love to spam simp in Twitch chat, you may simply get banned from Twitch. Sorry Hate Watchers!
If you really want to dive into this news and go deeper down the rabbit hole, here’s the updated policy Twitch has made public. It’s basically written in lawyerspeak, so you have been warned. in an attempt to summarize the policy. Its aim is to ban those who use language as an insult regardless of what words they actually use. A slippery slope indeed!
What side do you land on this argument? No one likes to be insulted and what words you use don't really matter since your intent is to offend. But, at the same time the line between a playful jest and an insult is not so clear and how far do you go? Soon must we ban the words stupid and ignorant because I can insult you with these words too. No easy answer or hot takes here, just throwing the obvious arguments out there! One thing is clear at this point, play nice or you might just get the boot off of Twitch.
Late to gaming news? No worries, we are always in the EarlyGame! Check out more great gaming content like Parents of Six-Year-Old Streamer Staged Warzone Ban.