A Twitch section seen at the Tokyo Game Show in 2023.Photo: Stanislav Kogiku (Getty Images)
Are you naked under that censor bar? Well, Twitch might not let you stream. A policy update posted on Wednesday clarifies that Twitch will not allow suggested nudity adding to the platform’s ever-growing list of commandments for exactly how your body needs to be covered while streaming.
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“We don’t permit streamers to be fully or partially nude, including exposing genitals or buttocks,” said Twitch in its updated Community Guidelines. “Nor do we permit streamers to imply or suggest that they are fully or partially nude, including, but not limited to, covering breasts or genitals with objects or censor bars.”
The latest update to our favorite, puritan streaming platform comes one month after Twitch allowed, then quickly reversed, artistic depictions of nudity on the platform (it didn’t go well). Twitch has a long history of painfully detailed streaming requirements around body coverage to make sure the platform is safe for kids and doesn’t end up competing with OnlyFans. Twitch also has a detailed underboob policy, and even notes how much of your butt has to be covered while streaming. The platform even introduced a “Pools, Hot Tubs, and Beaches” category for creators to stream wearing bathing suits, as long as it is “contextually appropriate.”
Remember that teacher in middle school who would berate kids for wearing shorts that didn’t reach their fingertips? Twitch has essentially become the prude administrator of streaming platforms. A decent portion of Twitch’s users are minors, with 21% of users identifying themselves as between the ages of 13 and 17. This specific update seems to target creators who have been pushing the platform’s rules around nudity.
Twitch says its goal with this new policy update “is to make Twitch a safe and welcoming place for all of the communities that call it home.” Another added benefit could be to avoid classification as a porn website that a number of US states have aimed at in recent years. On Monday, Montana and North Carolina became the 7th and 8th states to pass laws requiring age verification for pornographic websites. Pornhub responded by taking away access altogether because they don’t want to collect their users’ ID cards to verify their age.