Twitch Creates Safety Advisory Council to Help With Decision Making

Twitch has announced its next big move to ensure parity and fairness when it comes to creating and enforcing its rules. Dubbed the Safety Advisory Council, this new group will evaluate the current rules on Twitch, decide how they can be improved/changed, ensure that rule enforcement doesn’t favor one broadcaster over another, and most importantly preserve the safety of the viewers and broadcasters on its platform.

The Twitch Safety Advisory Council consists of a few broadcasters from the Twitch community as well as some outside individuals as well. If nothing else, the group is certainly diverse but whether or not it will be able to have the impact that some Twitch users hope is up for debate.

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Twitch’s announcement of the Safety Advisory Council laid out who each member is and why they are qualified to be a part of the group. On the streaming side, Twitch has recruited Cupahnoodle, CohhCarnage, FerociouslySteph, and Zizaran – a diverse group with various years of experience on the platform. And then the new faces coming to work with Twitch include Alex Holmes, CEO of The Diana Award; Emma Llanso from the Center for Democracy and Technology; Cyberbullying Research Center Co-director Dr. Sameer Hinduja; and Director of Research for AnyKey, T.L. Taylor.

Arguably the biggest name on the Council from the Twitch side is CohhCarnage. A variety caster who has amassed a strong following and is known for a welcoming and laid back atmosphere, CohhCarnage says that he wanted to join the council to ensure that Twitch doesn’t make any sweeping changes. It’s a bold move for such a big broadcaster and one that is already garnering him a lot of attention. He may be the one that many viewers flock to when they feel that a punishment is too harsh or if a punishment has not been handed down at all.

Ideally, though, the Twitch Safety Advisory Council shouldn’t face these types of questions if everything runs as intended. According to Twitch’s announcement, the focus of the Council is on developing and updating policies that improve safety and moderation on the streaming platform.

As with anything related to Twitch, there is some skepticism about whether or not the Council will be able to enact any real change on the platform. Twitch has regularly announced new rules and policies, but usually broadcasters are not evaluated under the same umbrella. One broadcaster may serve a lengthy suspension for one act, while another broadcaster goes unpunished for doing something similar.

At the end of the day, Twitch is a business and there is a lot about the platform that exists in areas of grey. This Twitch Safety Advisory Council does sound like a good step in the right direction, but there is no telling whether these are the right members for the job. Twitch users will just have to wait and see how the next controversy is handled.

MORE: Twitch Adds New Moderation Tools for Streamers

Source: Twitch



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