Twitch Users Are Boycotting Over Attacks Targeting Black, Queer And Disabled People

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The popular streaming platform Twitch is facing boycotts today, over a wave of «hate raids attacking mostly Black and queer streamers.

MARTIN BUREAU/AFP via Getty Images

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MARTIN BUREAU/AFP via Getty Images

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Similarly, Raven has a number of safeguards in place to help defend themselves from bot attacks. This includes having moderators, activating block lists of certain phrases, and setting their chat so that only subscribers can comment. Again, this is an imperfect solution that severely hinders participation, which in turn can limit audience growth—which is particularly important if Twitch is a source of income, as it is for Raven.

Twitch has provided safety guides for streamers to follow, should these attacks happen. But one part of the protest is demanding Twitch take a more proactive stance, and not let the burden fall to the streamers. Also part of the demand is more open communication with the company—especially important since these attacks disproportionately impact smaller creators, says Morgan Romine, co-director of AnyKey, a non-profit that supports diversity in video gaming.

«If you look at the top 20 streamers, those are the ones that get a lot of attention, and they have a lot of clout because those are the ones making the biggest advertising dollars, Romine says. But as it is mostly Black streamers being targeted, «their streaming experience is being completely disrupted with hate right now.

How Effective Is #ADayOffTwitch?

It’s hard to measure how widespread the boycott is. While the hashtag #ADayOffTwitch is getting some traction on Twitter, there isn’t much discussion of it on the popular Twitch subreddit r/livestreamfail as of this writing. But there has been some back and forth among some of the larger celebrities in streaming discussing how pragmatic the boycott is. To Vice, that’s evidence of the boycott’s success. «The fact that we’re doing this interview right now is a testament to it making noise, he says.

While Raven is obviously hopeful that people take part in the boycott, they’re sympathetic that some streamers can’t, whether because of contractual obligations or any other reason. «There’s no pressure to not stream if you can’t do it, Raven says. «We just want to be heard, and we’re tired of hurting.