Twitch lets streamers watch banned users’ content in new policy change

Streaming platform Twitch has announced a new Suspension Evasion policy change that will let streamers react to banned users’ content without the fear of risking being banned themselves.

Twitch has had strict rules about what content streamers are allowed to watch on the site with creators previously prohibited from reacting to VODs or clips from users who have been suspended.

On April 4, the Amazon-owned platform adjusted these rules with one big caveat: banned users still can’t appear on stream as guests in any capacity.

According to Twitch, moving forward, streamers can watch VODs and other content from banned users on the basis that “sharing commentary is a big part of the Twitch experience.”

“We believe this update strikes the right balance – it helps ensure suspensions are honored, while giving our community room to discuss topics that are of interest to them,” the platform added.

While this means that users will now be free to engage with content posted by banned streamers such as Dr Disrespect, the two-time still won’t be able to return to Twitch for any collaborations.

The updated Community Guidelines now state: “For non-suspended Twitch streamers, you may react to a VOD or a livestream from another service of a suspended user, but you may not feature them on your stream as a guest (for example, streaming in the same room or using collaboration software to feature a suspended user as a guest, even in an ensemble).”

However, there are still some restrictions to what streamers can react to. A clip that resulted in a streamer being banned could still be off the table if showing it would violate Twitch’s content rules. As Twitch reiterated in their announcement, “all content must abide by our Community Guidelines.”

The new policy has just gone into effect, so we’ll have to see how streamers decide to take advantage of it and if Twitch decides to loosen up more of its guidelines depending on how these new rules pan out.