Twitch has announced a significant update to its suspension policy, moving away from the previous all-or-nothing approach. Users will now experience a more nuanced system that differentiates between types of violations. Previously, a temporary suspension meant complete loss of platform access, including chatting and viewing streams. The new policy introduces two distinct types of suspensions: streaming suspensions and chatting suspensions.
This shift aims to align penalties more closely with the nature of the offense. For instance, if a user breaches the Community Guidelines during a livestream, they will face a streaming suspension, which disables their ability to go live and chat in their channel. However, they will still retain access to watch other streams and manage their dashboard, along with viewing their existing clips and videos.
Conversely, if a violation occurs in chat, the user will be barred from chatting but can continue to stream their content and engage with other streamers. Interestingly, users under a chat suspension can still interact within their own channel but will be restricted from participating in chats elsewhere.
Twitch emphasizes that more severe violations will result in both streaming and chatting suspensions to safeguard the community. While serious offenses may lead to indefinite suspensions, the duration of temporary suspensions will remain unchanged, ranging from 24 hours to 30 days. Additionally, repeat violations will result in longer suspension periods, potentially culminating in indefinite removal from the platform.
The company assesses the severity of violations based on the potential harm they could inflict, which encompasses physical, emotional, social, or financial damage to users or the Twitch community as a whole. Looking ahead, Twitch is exploring new types of suspensions that will be introduced in future updates, further enhancing the user experience.
