Twitch Will Now Ban Users for Bad Behavior Outside the Platform

In a bold move, Twitch has announced it will now ban users from its platform for misconduct that takes place outside of Twitch.

This will only happen when there is available and verifiable evidence of hateful conduct or harassment.

Twitch Introduces an Updated Off-Service Conduct Policy

As announced on the Twitch blog, the site's off-service enforcement policies are changing. It now means that users can be banned on Twitch for a variety of offenses, even if these actions occur entirely outside of Twitch.

Examples of these behaviors include violent extremism, terrorist activities, membership of a hate group, exploitation of children, and more.

According to Twitch, it's focussing on behaviors that "have the greatest potential to harm" its community.

While Twitch has enforced these rules in the past, it didn't have a scalable approach due to the complexity of the investigation required, and the need to rely on external parties like law enforcement. As such, Twitch has hired a third-party investigative partner to support the internal Twitch team.

Action will only be taken where there is evidence, like screenshots, videos, police filings, and interviews.

The outcome of any investigation will not be shared publicly due to the sensitive nature of the issues, but those involved will receive updates.

Full details can be found by reading Twitch's Off-Service Conduct Policy.