In a precedent-setting move, Amazon's Twitch will now police streamers for violence, extremism, terrorism, and other violations that happen offline

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In a precedent-setting move, Amazon's Twitch will now police streamers for violence, extremism, terrorism, and other violations that happen offline
Jeff Bezos.Drew Angerer/Getty Images
  • Amazon-owned Twitch is establishing a major policy shift for policing streamers.
  • Beyond their actions on the platform, Twitch can take action against streamers for offline acts.
  • Violence, extremism, terrorism, and being in a hate group are just a few of a variety of violations.
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Amazon-owned Twitch announced a major change to how it moderates streamers on Wednesday: Going forward, the company will police streamers for a variety of offline actions.

The list of violations are the types of actions that are likely to come with legal ramifications: "deadly violence and violent extremism," "terrorist activities or recruiting," "explicit and/or credible threats of mass violence (i.e. threats against a group of people, event, or location where people would gather)," and "carrying out or deliberately acting as an accomplice to non-consensual sexual activities and/or sexual assault."

In the announcement, a Twitch representative said the new policy is intended as a more thorough, codified version of actions Twitch has taken in the past.

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"Until now, we didn't have an approach that scaled," the statement said. "We've intentionally prioritized behaviors that pose an immediate physical risk to the Twitch community, but recognize that this does not address all forms of harassment and abuse."

Read more: More US adults use YouTube than any other social media - but Facebook reigns supreme among older Americans

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The majority of the policy addresses offline acts involving violence, threats of violence, and sexual harassment or abuse, but it also extends to streamers who belong to a terrorist organization and/or hate group.

The new policy will only be enforced on cases with "verifiable evidence," and Twitch said it will use a third-party to help determine what meets the threshold in order to issue a suspension. Twitch is employing, "an experienced investigations law firm that is dedicated to conducting independent workplace and campus investigations including those related to sexual discrimination or assault," the announcement said.

An email address has also been set up for anonymous contact with Twitch moderators and the third-party law firm, "where anyone can report egregious, off-service misconduct in the categories above committed by a member of the Twitch community."

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