SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Twitch has rolled out a series of new features to provide viewers with greater control over adult content viewed on the live streaming platform.
New features protecting audiences were announced on 21 May, via an update titled “We’re giving viewers more control over their Twitch experience.”
“We believe Twitch should be a welcoming place for everyone and recognise that content enjoyed by some may not be a good fit for others.”
The update sees Twitch deploy new content filtering and thumbnail blurring options to hide ‘Content Classification Labels’ (CCLs) used to mark adult themes/streams on its platform.
CCLs were initiated last year as a new audience safeguard as Twitch began classifying content “to help viewers make informed choices.” A new content filtering option will allow users to exclude streams from specific CCL categories.
Twitch audiences will be able to find new filters via the ‘Content Display Preferences’ located in ‘Profile Settings.’
The filter gives viewers the options to hide CCLs categorised as – Sexual Themes, Drugs/Intoxication, Gambling, Violent & Graphic Depictions, Significant Profanity, and Mature Rated Games.
Users under 18 will have default filters enabled for all CCL themes apart from Mature Rated Games. Twitch’s logged-out viewers will have default filters enabled for Sexual Themes and Gambling.
Guidelines detailed: “Streams labelled with CCLs you have chosen to filter out will not be recommended to you, and will not show up as you browse categories or search for content. If you follow a streamer, their content will be exempt from these settings and will always be shown, even if labelled with a CCL that you’ve chosen to filter out.”
The option to blur thumbnails has been applied to content labelled with Sexual Themes CCL (set as a default option). Twitch notes that ‘followed channels’ are exempt from blurred thumbnails.
The update warned content creators of tougher enforcement on CCLs as “repeated failure to correctly label your stream will lead to a label being applied to your channel that is unremovable, and the appropriate label will remain on your account for a period of days or weeks, or indefinitely.”
Streamers were urged to read Twitch guidelines to understand factors determining how CCL should be applied for adult content. Gambling-related streams have troubled Twitch, who in 2022 updated its community guidelines to ban streamers from promoting gambling content on its platform.
The platform committed to prohibiting the streaming of gambling sites that offer slots, roulette, or dice games unless they are licensed in the US or other jurisdictions with adequate consumer protection.
Policies were further toughened in August 2023, as Twitch implemented an outright ban on all livestreams of gambling content, needed to protect audiences from the predatory marketing of skin websites promoting unlicensed gambling. The update specifically banned the online casinos of Blaze and Gamdom, deemed to be targeting audiences directly.
