Twitch finds itself in the middle of a commotion due to its creators' discussions and management strategies regarding Israel and Palestine.
JPMorgan Chase ceased their advertising on Twitch within recent months, as reported by a source, due to a broader strategy focusing on brand safety and concerns over the content surrounding their advertisements. Anti-Semitic accusations aided in this decision.
Chevron, sponsor of Twitch's semi-annual conference TwitchCon, expressed dissatisfaction towards Twitch following controversial comments during a panel at TwitchCon that featured Middle Eastern streamers.
At least two other corporations, AT&T and Dunkin' Donuts, similarly withdrew their advertisements from the platform according to Bloomberg. Twitch chose not to comment on advertisers.
The controversy at Twitch underscores the difficulties of managing sensitive political topics that have become prevalent in social media discourse.
Twitch's CEO, Dan Clancy, stated in a November blog post that there is no room for racism, hate, or harassment, including Anti-Semitism and Islamophobia, on their platform. Twitch strives to ensure that their community remains safe.
Hasan Piker, popular amongst his 2.8 million Twitch subscribers as HasanAbi, has been labeled as the left's equivalent to Joe Rogan.
New York Representative Ritchie Torres penned a letter to Twitch last month expressing concerns regarding anti-Semitic and anti-American propaganda propagated by Hasan Piker, one of Twitch's prominent streamers.
Torres cited Hasan Piker's description of Orthodox Jews as "inbred" and dehumanizing a Jewish man as a "bloodthirsty pig dog." Piker defended these statements to NBC News last month, claiming the videos in question were taken out of context and he was instead criticizing the Israeli government, not Jewish people.
A campaign to persuade advertisers to discontinue advertising on Twitch was led by supporters of Dan "DanCantStream" Saltman and those connected to Steven "Destiny" Bonnell. Saltman revealed that his campaign had already contacted over 100 advertisers.
In response to a Bloomberg journalist's inquiries that Saltman posted online, he claimed that his primary goal was to have Twitch's CEO, Dan Clancy, step down. He also mentioned that his ban from Twitch was merely ceremonial.
Both Saltman and Destiny were suspended by Twitch due to separate reasons - Saltman for harassment rules and Destiny for hateful conduct. Many of their supporters online, including forums like Reddit, have advocated for their reinstatement.
Saltman believes his ban prevented him from discussing issues on the platform with other streamers.
"When considerable media corporations like Twitch enable, promote, and protect virulent anti-Semitism on their platform, it's rational for advertisers to be informed about the spaces they are endorsing," Saltman stated in the letter.
Controversy surrounding streamers
Comments at the "Ayyrabs Podcast" panel, hosted by Twitch partner and streamer Frogan during TwitchCon, are at the heart of the controversy. This in-person event, aimed at paying tribute to the platform, its creators, and users, took place in September.
Twitch suspended those panelists, as well as separately penalizing a user account for Asmongold, following racist remarks he made concerning Palestinians. The details of the durations of the suspensions were not disclosed to CNN.
During the panel, when the panelists ranked other streamers based on their "Arab" characteristics, the lowest category was "Loves Sabra." Sabra, a hummus brand previously owned partly by the Israeli Strauss Group, was fully purchased by PepsiCo in November. Sabra is a common target of the pro-Palestinian boycott movement.
The backdrop of the panel displayed Chevron, Samsung, and Capcom's logos.
In a statement to CNN, Chevron expressed that the "derogatory comments" made during the event were deeply distressing and displayed dissatisfaction towards Twitch organizers.
"As an event sponsor, Chevron relied upon the conference organizers to meticulously monitor presentations and content. Our disappointment stems from the fact that such divisive rhetoric was allowed on stage," a spokesperson stated. Chevron stated that they ponder advertisements and sponsorships periodically.
In October, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), a Jewish advocacy group, spoke with Twitch staff a month after TwitchCon.
"Twitch must learn from this incident and work on improving how they handle anti-Semitism and hate within their platform. It remains an ongoing challenge," the ADL stated. The ADL denied having any connections with advertisers.
One online commentator, Ethan Klein, who was featured as someone who "Loves Sabra," alleged in a video that the panel messaging was "Arab good, Jew bad."
Frogan was later banned from Twitch for 30 days, as seen in a post citing "targeted hateful conduct," on X day.
She mentioned that the "habibi pass" list was equivalent to an online joke, categorized as a "meme tier list." ("Habibi" translates to beloved in Arabic, a "habibi pass" refers to someone who can use the term appropriately.)
The foundation of her podcast "ayyrabs with capri and raff" is to showcase her, Capri (a Christian), and Raff (a Jew), all being Arabs from different religious backgrounds, as she referred to the suspended hosts of the podcast who shared an earlier panel.
In October, she mentioned her suspension length surpassing that of user Asmongold (real name Zack Hoyt), whose popular Twitch channel boasts 3.6 million followers. Her 30-day ban stemmed from her comments, displayed alongside sponsors, while Asmongold's two-week ban followed his controversial statements against Palestinians. Although Twitch did not confirm the length of the suspensions, she pointed out the disparity.
Earlier this year, he labeled the victims of Israel's military campaign (numbering at least 44,502 according to the local health ministry) as "terrible people" and criticized their culture as inferior.
"If you consider it genocide as a systematic killing of a group of people, they have genocide built into Sharia law," Asmongold stated in a viral clip. He further commented that he did not shed tears for the Palestinians due to their culture and laws fostering genocide.
Asmongold subsequently posted an apology on X in October, acknowledging his harsh remarks towards Palestine, and afterwards, expressed regret on YouTube, admitting the backlash was justified and describing his comments as repugnant.
Updating its guidelines
Twitch acknowledged its commitment to enforcing its policies fairly.
"All content on Twitch has to adhere to our Community Guidelines, and we enforce these rules evenly towards all creators. When we uncover content that violates these guidelines, we implement enforcement measures," the company stated.
In November, Twitch upgraded its hateful content policy to incorporate the term "Zionist" when it is utilized to demean individuals or groups based on their background or religious beliefs.
The company acknowledged that Zionism encompasses a political movement, and using the term in that context (whether in support or opposition) is not considered a violation of the policy.
The same month, Twitch requested streamers to assign a new label, "Politics and Sensitive Social Issues," to discussions related to these issues. These labels help users to make informed choices regarding the content they consume and allow brands to have more control over ad placements, as stated by Twitch.
"Our goal isn’t to curtail conversation or criticism of institutions or ideologies, but to prevent coded hate directed at individuals and groups of people," the company explained in the policy.
Despite the controversy surrounding racist remarks made by some Twitch streamers, tech companies like Chevron continue to show interest in sponsoring Twitch events. However, Chevron expressed dissatisfaction towards Twitch after divisive remarks were made during a TwitchCon panel, highlighting the importance of brand safety for businesses in the tech sector.
Twitch recently updated its hateful content policy to incorporate the term "Zionist" when used to demean individuals or groups based on their background or religious beliefs. This move demonstrates the platform's commitment to addressing the concerns raised by advertisers and advocacy groups.
