Twitch Has a New Policy that will Ban Harmful Misinformation Superspreaders

Twitch has introduced new rules to stop channels from consistently sharing misinformation. The policy update will target streamers who consistently make false claims, on or off Twitch, regarding protected groups, health issues including COVID-19, public emergencies, and misinformation that promotes violence or diminishes civic systems such as election results.

Angela Hession, Twitch vice president of trust and safety, said the website is “taking this precautionary step and updating our policies to ensure that these misinformation superspreaders won’t find a home on our service. The policy states that users will be prohibited if their online presence is dedicated to persistently sharing widely disproven and broadly shared harmful misinformation topics.

Twitch also makes clear that all misinformation spreaders will be targeted by the new policy even if they don’t make false claims while streaming. Sharing the misinformation on other platforms such as Twitter is enough to warrant action against their  account.

The company introduced the changes because of its growing popularity, acknowledging that streamers could use Twitch as a tool to cause real-world harm. has 140 million unique monthly visitors, up from 55 million in 2015.