Twitch streamers stage walkout to protest inaction over hate raids

A group of Twitch streamers will be boycotting the website today in response to hate raids that have been plaguing the service.

The campaign, organising under the #ADayOffTwitch hashtag, was started by three streamers, RekItRaven, LuciaEverBlack and ShineyPen. The trio are protesting the ongoing hate raids and abuse on the platform, and what they view as Twitch’s failure to do something about them.

Users across the platform have been inundated with abuse during hate raids, in which follower bots raid a stream with sexist, racist and transphobic messages.

In response, #ADayOffTwitch is asking users to stay off Twitch on 1 September in protest, in the hopes that it might encourage Twitch to find a solution more quickly.

We are continuing the fight.

Shout out to @LuciaEverblack and @ShineyPen for helping me with this!#ADayOffTwitch
September 1st, don't go live. pic.twitter.com/dU1ycC9YtM

— Raven's Not Here. (@RavenousTales_) August 20, 2021

The blackout will last for 24 hours, and participants are encouraged not to stream, watch videos or participate in chat on the platform.

RekItRaven has reportedly met with Twitch regarding the campaign, and while details of what was discussed have not been disclosed, Raven was confident in the changes being made.

“The team [at Twitch] I spoke with seemed impacted by the issues that were discussed and it genuinely felt like they were rightfully concerned,” Raven told Pink News.

Upon the campaign’s announcement, Twitch posted a Twitter thread addressing the “malicious and hateful attacks,” saying that this is a problem without an easy solution.

“No one should have to experience malicious and hateful attacks based on who they are or what they stand for,” reads the statement. “This is not the community we want on Twitch, and we want you to know we are working hard to make Twitch a safer place for creators.

“Hate spam attacks are the result of highly motivated bad actors, and do not have a simple fix. Your reports have helped us take action–we’ve been continually updating our sitewide banned word filters to help prevent variations on hateful slurs, and removing bots when identified.

“We’ve been building channel-level ban evasion detection and account improvements to combat this malicious behavior for months. However, as we work on solutions, bad actors work in parallel to find ways around them—which is why we can’t always share details.

“In the meantime, please keep reporting these egregious attacks. It helps us identify and remove bad actors and their networks, and update tools as behaviors evolve. These changes may not be visible, but we are making them daily.

“We want every creator to feel safe doing what they love, and our team is constantly working to develop lasting, impactful solutions that make Twitch safe for everyone.”