Dear John,
Back in September, when Kayla—a Black woman and Twitch streamer—was doxed by users of the platform, online racists made false 911 calls and had a fully armed SWAT team sent to an address where they believed she was living. This incident occurred after she had been hate-raided by 400 bots, and harassed and cyberstalked by users who should’ve already been banned from the platform. Twitch’s failure to invest enough in the safety and security of its users has endangered the lives of Black creators and their loved ones. Kayla could have been seriously injured, harmed, or even killed.
Still, there’s a glimmer of hope. Thanks to more than 19,000 Color Of Change members who signed the #TwitchDoBetter petition, we’ve been able to have one of our demands met: two-factor authentication, which allows creators and moderators to secure their channel live streams with phone and email verification!1 This is critical to ensuring that online racists cannot access Black creators’ content, let alone leave comments with sensitive information (e.g., home addresses) or even hate.
CHIP IN, OUR #TWITCHDOBETTER CAMPAIGN IS A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH.
In the coming weeks, we’ll be hosting a Twitter Livestream Event to raise awareness of this issue, sharing powerful YourVoice videos collected from impacted Black streamers and running ads that target Twitch executives. We want to maintain the momentum we’ve worked so hard to build and pressure Twitch to adopt our other demands aimed at protecting Black creators:
- Conduct a Racial Equity Audit — to evaluate its policies and products for discrimination and determine mechanisms to prevent future harm to Black communities (e.g., software program that detects universal slurs, streamlined complaint process).
- Enforce Terms of Service and Community Guidelines — which would require that those found in violation be permanently banned from the platform.
- Establish an Equity Council of Black Creators — to better inform its safety, policy, and enforcement protocols.
- Expand Other User Permissions — which would include granting streamers and moderators permission to approve/decline hate raids.
But, John, we need you to power this important work!
Until justice is real,
—The Color Of Change Team
References:
- “Securing Your Chat with Phone and Email Verification,” Twitch, September 29, 2021, https://act.colorofchange.org/go/329203?t=13&akid=52316%2E4731121%2E5PKwbG.
Color Of Change is building a movement to elevate the voices of Black folks and our allies, and win real social and political change. Please help keep our movement strong.
