[Hardware] No More Lip Service: Twitch, Game Platforms Still Ignore Hate and Harassment

[shVury]

 

Nearly every streamer has to deal with the occasional troll, but as a Black woman in gaming, I have faced horrifying levels of racist and sexist harassment from belligerent strangers on the other side of the computer screen. Unfortunately, I’m far from alone, as the moderators at major platform, such as Twitch, turn a blind eye and fail to enforce their own, seemingly well-intentioned, anti-hate speech policies, leaving women, BIPOC and LBTQIA users vulnerable.

Warning: Some graphic descriptions of harassment to follow.

 

In two decades of online gaming, I have been stalked offline, threatened with rape and murder and even saw users steal my kids' pictures from Facebook so they could mock them in online groups. The feeling of helplessness and violation is something you never forget. But with gaming giants, such as Twitch and Microsoft, embracing the Black Lives Matter movement in recent months, you might think that these companies would be more conscientious about stopping bigotry on their platforms. 

However, based on my experiences and those of other streamers of color I speak to, it’s clear that the reality doesn’t live up to the rhetoric.

 

The problem isn’t limited to Twitch or to streaming. I have the same problem when I game on Xbox Live. 

I’ve suffered aggressive and demeaning comments from men in response to me being a woman. One user even threatened to murder me and rape my corpse. This gave me nightmares and caused me to stop playing games for a few months.