Twitch announced in a blog post on Monday the release of new options to better reference mature content on the platform.
Although the platform does not allow pornographic content, many different categories of streams were however geared towards a mature audience, without having anything more in common than that. And now, creators will be able, and will even be clearly encouraged, to better indicate the nature of their adult content.
New options, but not a revolution
Concretely, the blog post explains that the tag “mature” (“adult content” on the French version of the platform) that creators can display under their live was far too vague, and that some streamers complained that they did not always know if their content fell into this category. And it is true that in view of the new categories that have been created, many of the streams concerned had nothing to do with it. Thus, are created the tags “sexual themes”, “drugs, alcohol, or excessive tobacco use”or ” gambling “. Note that these tags must be applied to streams that discuss these topics, or play games dealing with them, since it is obviously not allowed to take drugs live, and gambling is very supervised there.
But if these tags allow a better representation of adult content on the platform, this does not constitute a radical change: the blog post explicitly specifies that the content policy of the platform does not change on this occasion. We are therefore more in an update of comfort and readability than anything else, and not in a process of fighting against this content. Twitch, moreover, explains that these have their place on the platform, but are not intended for all audiences.
A referencing that will become mandatory
Without going directly into punitive threats, the blog post explains that, like the old “adult content” tag, it will be mandatory for creators to correctly reference their streams. The absence of the tag indeed resulting in a warning email, and several of them can lead to a suspension of the channel “for a period of several days or several weeks”. In addition, video game lives classified for adult in the United States will automatically be tagged with the appropriate tag.
These obligations will take effect from July 20.
Sources: The Verge, Twitch
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