Twitch streamers are organising a one-day boycott of the streaming service in protest of Twitch’s inaction against hate raids.
In a bid to force Twitch to take action against the hate raids that have been plaguing marginalised creators, Twitch streamers have planned a one-day boycott of the platform’s services. The date is set for Wednesday 1st September, with many popular streamers speaking up in support of it.
The blackout is being organised by RekItRaven, LuciaEverblack and ShineyPen, using the hashtag #ADayOffTwitch. This was shortly after the #TwitchDoBetter hashtag started, in which streamers posted their experiences with hate raids and other forms of harassment.
Being a streamer isn’t all fun and games, as Kaitlyn “Amouranth” Siragusa can tell you. Earlier this month, her house was suspected to be deliberately set on fire. Thankfully, she and her dogs were unharmed – but this brings to attention the very real dangers that many popular streamers face.
Doxxing and swatting are two of the most common threats streamers have to deal with, with the former being considerably more common.
" @Twitch gives you tools to manage hate raids. You just have to use them."
Okay let's try that… (turn volume on)#TwitchDoBetter pic.twitter.com/pvxyJ8Vw1S
— Art for the Apocalypse (@thomsimonson) August 22, 2021
Participants of the boycott are showing support and solidarity for victims of the recent bout of hate raids, where malicious users would create a huge number of bot or alternate accounts and flood a Twitch streamer’s chat with abuse and slurs. These raids have generally been aimed at marginalised creators.
Raven, along with other victims of these hate raids, has mentioned that Twitch has not been taking action against such behaviour. Twitch streamers are protesting against this inaction, hoping that the blackout will pressure Twitch to take immediate steps to curb the amount of hateful content on its platform.
