Twitch streamers RekItRaven, Lucia Everblack, and Shineypen organized the hashtag #ADayOffTwitch, encouraging streamers to take a break from the platform and not go live that day in protest of Twitch’s inaction against hate speech, according to IGN. The boycott originated earlier this month from the hashtag #TwitchDoBetter, which was used by streamers to ask the platform to better protect marginalized users from the hate speech they frequently experience. Although Twitch said it would launch channel-level ban evasion detection and account verification improvements later this year, streamers are still disappointed in how the platform has handled botting, hate raids, and other forms of harassment. Lucia Everblack said that streamers’ livelihood and access to their community are affected by Twitch’s inactions. “We are pushing for changes that go far beyond simply protecting users,” Everblack tweeted. “It’s about giving them a voice, about treating them fairly, and building a stronger community for everyone.” The influencers organizing the boycott encourage subscribers and viewers to give their favorite streamers a few extra dollars if they are partaking in the boycott, since streamers will lose out on income by not going live. In response to the upcoming boycott, Twitch said the best way for hate speech to lessen on the platform is for people to report it when it happens, so the company can remove bad actors and their networks. “Hate spam attacks are the result of highly motivated bad actors and do not have a simple fix. Your reports have helped us take action–we’ve been continually updating our sitewide banned word filters to help prevent variations on hateful slurs, and removing bots when identified,” Twitch’s official Twitter account tweeted.
