New Twitch policy bans word ‘Zionist’ amid accusations of anti-Semitism

On By Littum

On November 15, 2024, Twitch issued an update to its hateful conduct policy, making specific changes around the use of the word ‘Zionist’ on its platform.

Twitch’s blog post clarifies that the world in isolation is not banned, but consequences will be enforced if the term is used in a hateful or harassing manner.

“As of today, it is against our rules to use the term ‘Zionist’ to attack or denigrate another person or group of people based on their background or religious beliefs,” the post reads.

“Using the term to refer to the political movement, whether in a supportive or critical way, does not violate our hateful conduct policy,” it continues, maintaining that the site does not want to “stifle conversation about or criticism of a institution or ideology, but to prevent coded hatred directed at individuals and groups of people.”

This latest update follows accusations of anti-Semitism against the platform after it was discovered that users based in Israel and Palestine were being prevented from creating Twitch accounts.

The platform called the case an “unacceptable miss” that it “deeply regrets” for “inadvertently” never reactivating email verification in either region.

Twitch CEO Dan Clancy also issued a statement about the discussion, saying the company “stands firmly against hate and harassment of any kind.”

“There is no place on Twitch for racism, hatred or harassment of any kind, including anti-Semitism and Islamophobia,” he continued. “…Twitch is and always will be about belonging.

“Every day, people come together on our service to build communities around shared interests and to express themselves authentically. To make this possible, we work hard to ensure our community is a safe place.”

Responses to Twitch’s latest Hateful Conduct update have been negative, with some users calling for the company to fire Clancy.

The Anti-Defamation League, a non-governmental organization committed to combating anti-Semitism, has also reacted to the change.

In a series of tweets, the ADL “praised” Twitch for the update, but remains skeptical, saying the platform “still has a long way to go.”

This update comes in the wake of several high-profile streamers claiming they have been demonetized on the platform for including content tags representing their race and country of origin, sparking further backlash against the site.