• Glorification and/or promotion of self-harm
• Promotion of eating disorders and sharing of pro-eating disorder content, such as saying you’re “pro-ana”, or sharing your diet plan of not eating for three days and then binge eating on day four
• Sharing graphic details of suicide notes or suicide attempts
• Use of hard drugs and substances not fit for human consumption (e.g., tide pods, bleach)
• Misuse of legal substances (e.g., prescription drugs, whippets)
• Cutting or other forms of self-injury
• Consumption of alcohol or other substances that lead to being incapacitated
• Dangerous or distracted driving, including using a phone while driving and driving under the influence

If you feel like you’re struggling, or you know someone who you believe might hurt themselves or others, or if someone is at immediate risk of suicide, please contact someone you trust, a healthcare provider, mental health hotline, or local law enforcement for immediate help and support. We also have resources and help lines available for you here. 

• Attempts or threats to physically harm or kill others
• Attempts or threats to hack, dox, DDOS, or SWAT others
• Use of weapons to physically threaten, intimidate, harm, or kill others
• Encouraging others to participate in acts that may harm others

In situations where a user has lost control of their broadcast due to severe injury, medical emergency, police action, or being targeted with serious violence, we will temporarily remove the channel and associated content.

In exceptional circumstances, we may preemptively suspend accounts when we believe an individual’s use of Twitch poses a high likelihood of inciting violence. In weighing the risk of harm, we consider an individual’s influence, the level of recklessness in their past behaviors (on Twitch or elsewhere), whether or not there continues to be a risk of harm, and the scale of ongoing threats.

Content or activities that threaten or promote sexual violence are strictly prohibited and may be reported to law enforcement. See Adult Sexual Violence for more detail.

• Display or link terrorist or extremist propaganda, including graphic pictures or footage of terrorist or extremist violence, even for the purposes of denouncing such content

• Non-consensual sex acts
• Coercing a guest into committing a sex act by threatening them
• Touching another person in an intimate manner without their consent

• Sexually explicit content or sexualized images of youth
• Sharing links to third-party sites that contain content prohibited by this policy
• Content that promotes, encourages, provides instruction to, or admits participation in the sexual exploitation or sexualization of youth
• Content that constitutes or facilitates inappropriate interactions with youth, including grooming, purposefully exposing youth to sexually explicit language or sexual material, and engaging in sexual conversations in messages with youth
• Content that attempts to exploit youth by coercing money, favors or intimate imagery with threats to expose intimate imagery or information
• Content depicting nudity of youth
• Identifying alleged victims of CSAM by name or image

• Deadly violence and violent extremism
• Terrorist activities or recruiting
• Explicit and/or credible threats of mass violence (i.e. threats against a group of people, event, or location where people would gather).
• Leadership, membership, or sponsorship of a known hate group
• Carrying out or deliberately acting as an accomplice to non-consensual sexual activities and/or sexual assault
• Sexual exploitation of youth, such as grooming and/or solicitation/distribution of CSAM
• Actions that would directly and explicitly compromise the physical safety of the Twitch community
• Explicit and/or credible threats against Twitch, including Twitch staff
• Harmful misinformation actors that are persistent misinformation superspreaders
• Doxxing: Sharing personally identifiable information with malicious intent, such as revealing another person’s:
  • Mailing address
  • Home address
  • Work or school addresses 
  • Physical location
  • Sensitive financial information 
  • Government IDs
• Swatting: Deliberately submitting false reports to emergency services to have police break into another person’s address

Will on-service reports sent to the Off-Service Investigations Team receive preferential review?

No.  Please only submit reports that relate to the off-service severe offenses listed above and meet our criteria of having direct and verifiable evidence. This helps our investigations team prioritize and more efficiently action your valid reports, which we know can be particularly urgent given the severe harms they address. We will not action any report submitted for behavior that is on-service, unrelated to the criteria above, or is not verifiable.

Does the victim or accused have to be a Twitch community member?

No. We believe those who have engaged in the severe offenses listed above are more likely to violate our Community Guidelines on Twitch, or to create overt safety risks for our communities. Therefore, we will apply these standards even if the target of these behaviors is not a Twitch user, or if the party engaging in abuse was not a Twitch user at the time they committed a severe offense. People who engage in these forms of severe abuse off-service are also prohibited from subsequently registering Twitch accounts and attempting to do so will lead to the account’s termination.

How does Twitch verify off-service behavior?

Twitch leverages third-party legal experts to assist in investigating severe offenses that occur outside of the Twitch services when needed. 

What are the limitations of acting on off-service behavior?

Twitch has established this policy primarily to protect the safety of our users. Because of this, persons who have carried out severe offenses and create a safety risk will be prohibited from using our services. However, in cases where these behaviors have occurred in the distant past, users have gone through a trusted rehabilitation process, such as legally mandated time served in a correctional facility, and our investigative process determines that there is no evidence to suggest that the user would cause any clear and present danger to the community, we may decline to take action against a user or we may unsuspend their account based on an appeal. For particularly egregious offenses that present a physical safety risk to the community, these suspensions will not be eligible for appeal, no matter how much time has elapsed.

Twitch will not actively monitor other websites or services for violations of our Community Guidelines, nor will we be acting on off-Twitch content created prior to March 5, 2018.

Why is Twitch moderating off-Twitch conduct?

Community is the heart of Twitch, and our goal is to foster a community where users can bring their authentic selves without fear of harm. We recognize that harm towards Twitch community members can sometimes originate from outside our service. When we are able to verify that harmful behavior occurred off-Twitch and can be attributed to a Twitch account, we believe that it is our responsibility to take action.

How does off-Twitch conduct influence on-service decisions?

We recognize that toxicity and abuse can spread to Twitch from outside our services in a way that is detrimental to our community. To mitigate this harm, we will take reported off-service context into account when evaluating violations of any of our Community Guidelines that occur on Twitch. If we are able to verify reports of off-service statements or behaviors that relate to an incident on Twitch, we will use this evidence to support and inform our enforcement decisions. If the off-service behavior does not involve an incident on Twitch, we will not investigate unless it is one of the severe offenses listed above. 

• Share personally identifiable information (PII), such as looking up a streamer’s leaked address and sharing it in chat 
• Share restricted or protected social profiles or any information from those profiles
• Share content that violates another’s reasonable expectation of privacy, for example streaming from a private space, without permission
• Broadcast an unwanted intrusion of private video conference calls

• Promote, glorify, threaten, or advocate violence, physical harm, or death against individual(s) or groups on the basis of a protected characteristic, including age.
  • Incite or promote violence against a protected group, e.g., “kill all the [protected group]”
  • Promote or express a desire for a protected group to be infected and/or die from a serious disease
  • Tell a user to kill themselves used in combination with a hateful slur, e.g., “kys [slur]”
  • Modify video game content to promote violence against a group based on a protected characteristic
  • Glorify specific hate crimes or mass violent acts and/or the perpetrators of such acts
  • Suggest that a victim of a hate crime deserved to be harmed
• Use hateful slurs, either untargeted or directed towards another individual. We allow certain words or terms, which might otherwise violate our policy, to be used in an empowering way or as terms of endearment when such intent is clear. We also make exceptions for slurs in music—and singing along to music—as long as the song itself is not hateful and the slurs are not combined with other discriminating or denigrating content. 
  • Enter a chat and spamming a slur
  • Target an individual with a slur based on a protected characteristic in chat
  • Include a slur in profile content
  • Call another player a slur while streaming
• Post, upload, or otherwise share hateful images or symbols, including symbols of established hate groups and Nazi-related imagery.
  • Stream with a Confederate flag in the background. Given its historic association with slavery and white supremacist groups in the US, displaying this symbol— in non-educational contexts — runs counter to Twitch’s commitment to being a service that is inclusive and welcoming to all users.
  • Wear a T-shirt with the Arrow Cross
  • Post a swastika or SS bolts in chat
• Create speech, imagery, or emote combinations that dehumanize or perpetuate negative stereotypes and/or memes.
  • Black/brown/yellow/redface
  • Content that perpetuates a recognized negative stereotype about a protected group as greedy or unintelligent
  • Content perpetuating negative associations between an animal and a protected group, or comparing a protected group to animals that are perceived as inferior or unclean
  • Content comparing a protected group to insects, pests, parasites, filth, or diseases/viruses
  • Content suggesting that protected group members are sub-human, inhuman, or impure
  • Content insinuating that individuals with certain protected characteristics are criminals or terrorists
  • Referring to a protected group as property or things
  • Intentionally referring to someone using a pronoun or form of address that does not correctly reflect the gender with which they identify, such as repeating incorrect pronouns after being asked to stop
• Create content that expresses inferiority based on a protected characteristic, for example, statements related to physical, mental, and moral deficiencies. 
  • Support for or promotion of outdated, discriminatory genetic or anthropological theories, including eugenics
  • Claims of divine sanction for hostility toward a protected group 
  • Negative statements related to mental health, e.g., “[protected characteristic] is a form of insanity” 
  • Negative statements related to hygiene, e.g., “[protected group] are all smelly”
  • Expressions questioning a group’s worth, e.g., “[protected group] are useless”
  • Statements suggesting inferiority of a protected group, e.g., “[protected group] are just worse at gaming”
  • Statements questioning the moral integrity of a protected group, including statements suggesting that a protected group are all cheaters
  • Content that implies that another contemporary culture is primitive 
• Call for subjugation, segregation or exclusion, including political, economic, and social exclusion/segregation, based on a protected characteristic, including age. We do, however, allow discussions on certain topics such as immigration policy, voting rights for non-citizens, and professional sports participation as long as the content is not directly denigrating based on a protected characteristic.
  • Support for denying right to political participation, e.g., “[protected group] should not be allowed to vote”
  • Support for limiting participation in the workplace, e.g., “we shouldn’t hire [protected group]”
  • Calls for exclusion from public services, e.g., “we shouldn’t spend tax dollars educating [protected group]”
  • Calls for exclusion from online services based on protected characteristic, including suggestions that a protected group does not belong on Twitch
  • Calls for controlling or dominating a group of people, including glorifying a period because a protected group was subjugated during that time, e.g., “slavery was the glory days of America”
• Encourage or support the political or economic dominance of any race, ethnicity, or religious group, including support for white supremacist/nationalist ideologies. This does not include support for self-determination movements.
  • Support for the hegemony of any group based on protected characteristic
  • Calls to increase fertility rates or restrict immigration to preserve the economic/political/social power of any group 
• Expressions of contempt, hatred, or disgust based on a protected characteristic.
  • Statements that a protected group should not exist
  • Statements dismissing an entire group, e.g., “I don’t like [protected group]”
  • Statements that a protected characteristic is repulsive or disgusting, or causes sickness, e.g., “[protected group] just make me want to vomit”
• Mock the event/victims or deny the occurrence of well-documented hate crimes, or deny the existence of documented acts of mass murder/genocide against a protected group.
  • Drawing a cartoon mocking the victim of a hate crime
  • Denial of the existence of a genocide, including the Holocaust
  • Suggesting a documented act of mass murder motivated by a protected characteristic was a hoax
• Make unfounded claims assigning blame to a protected group, or that otherwise intends to incite fear about a protected group as it relates to health and safety.
  • Conspiracy theories that individuals or groups are evil, corrupt or malicious based on a protected characteristic
  • Claims that a protected group created or is intentionally spreading a disease
  • Statements suggesting that a protected characteristic makes an individual more likely to be a criminal and/or terrorist
• Encourage the use of or generally endorsing sexual orientation conversion therapy.
• Support, promote, or be a member of a hate group, including sharing hate group propaganda materials.
• Create accounts dedicated to hate, such as through abusive usernames.

• Wishing harm or death on others
  • Telling another person to severely harm or kill themselves
  • Saying that another person deserves to contract a terminal or severe illness
• Glorifying, endorsing, or expressing approval of a person’s past or current traumatic events
  • Telling a victim of a violent crime or their kin that they deserved to be harmed (if based on a protected characteristic, this is evaluated under Hateful Conduct)
  • Encouraging a suicidal person to kill themselves
• Making implied physical threats to others (Note that explicit threats of violence are handled under our Violence and Threats policy)
• Targeting others with repeated or severe personal attacks
  • Repeatedly sending personal insults to a broadcaster after being timed-out in the channel
  • Browsing other broadcasters’ channels on stream and directing insults towards them related to their intelligence or appearance
• Sharing negative doctored or artistic content to abuse or degrade another person
  • Creating “deepfake” videos to insult or abuse another person
  • Drawing images of another person for the purposes of mocking or attacking that person
• Inciting viewers to target another person with abuse, regardless of whether the targets are on or off-Twitch
  • Organizing or participating in hostile raiding
  • Directly opening a user’s channel on stream and directing personal attacks towards them
• Making malicious contact towards legitimate businesses or private persons
  • Calling customer support lines repeatedly and hanging up, or calling restaurants and placing fake orders
• Deliberate, non-consensual in-game stream sniping, including using another person’s stream to gain a competitive advantage in a multiplayer game and disrupt their broadcast
• Stalking or ignoring another person’s established personal physical boundaries
  • Broadcasting another person who has denied consent
  • Broadcasting in a location where recording is prohibited
• Creating accounts dedicated to harassment, such as through abusive usernames

Streamers should always consider the consequences of their statements and actions of their audiences; sometimes unwanted focus or attention can encourage others to escalate their behavior into abuse. For example, broadcasting other Twitch streams while insulting those users often encourages others to also direct abuse to the target. Participating in this activity can, therefore, lead to suspension of your account.  

Although harassment is never allowed on Twitch, we want users to express themselves naturally with their friends and communities without fear that these interactions could be misidentified as harassment. In order to fully understand the context of incidents that appear unclear when viewed in isolation, we may require that individuals who feel targeted by abuse indicate that these actions were not consensual banter before we will intervene. Filing a user report or taking moderation action on the individual’s channel count as such indications.

• Making unwanted sexual advances towards another person
  • Whispering another user with compliments about their appearance after being asked to stop  
  • Sending chat messages to another user and calling them “sexy” after previously being timed-out for similar behavior
  • Asking another user to expose their non-sexual body parts, such as their feet, after receiving a chat warning
  • Persisting in asking about someone’s sexual experiences or history after being informed it’s unwanted
  • Sending nude pictures or videos to another person
  • Directing others to sexually explicit content
• Making unsolicited objectifying statements relating to the sexual body parts or practices of another person
  • Making sexually-focused comments about another person’s breasts, buttocks, or genitals
  • Commenting on another person’s perceived sexual abilities or lack thereof
  • Commenting on how sexually aroused they are based on another person’s features
• Making requests for sexual favors or making unsolicited statements in reference to performing graphic sexual acts on another person
  • Asking a streamer to expose themselves or send nude images
  • Whispering other users and asking them to perform graphic sex acts
  • Discussing a desire to perform graphic sex acts on a public figure
• Making derogatory statements about another person’s perceived sexual practices, sexual morality, or sexual health
  • Alleging that a person is sexually immoral due to their attire or physical appearance
  • Stating that a person’s attire reflects negatively on their sexual practices
  • Suggesting that a person’s channel is only popular or has not been suspended due to sexual favors
  • Repeatedly negatively targeting another person with sexually-focused terms, such as ‘whore’ or ‘virgin’
  • Making claims that another person likely has a sexually transmitted infection due to their sexual practices
• Attempting to coerce others into providing sexual content or favors through threats, bribes or other inducements
  • Offering to promote a user’s channel in exchange for sexual acts
  • Threatening retribution against another person if they do not share sexual images or videos
• Advocating for or expressing a desire to commit sexual violence against another person
  • Expressing a wish for another person to experience sexual assault
  • Directing another person to carry out non-consensual sexual acts
  • Discussing a desire to commit rape against another person 
• Sharing or threatening to share non-consensual intimate images or videos
  • Deliberately recording sexual body parts or intimate activities of another person without their awareness or consent
  • Offering a private video of another person having sex, without permission of the person depicted
  • Sharing leaked nude images of another person without their consent
  • Creating or sharing doctored or ‘deepfake’ intimate images of an identifiable person

When applicable, we will take indications (i.e., timeouts, channel bans, user reports, etc.) from the individual(s) targeted by this behavior into account to help us understand when advances and other statements are unwanted, even if they are not clearly derogatory. If you encounter sexual harassment, we encourage you to submit a report to us and use the moderation tools available to indicate that the behavior is unwanted as this helps us understand that you feel harassed.

Streamers are leaders of the communities they create or foster around them. Streamers should always consider the consequences of their statements and actions of their audiences; sometimes unwanted focus or attention can encourage others to escalate their behavior into abuse. For example, broadcasting other Twitch streams while insulting these users often encourages others to also direct abuse to the target. Participating in this activity can, therefore, lead to suspension of your account. 

We expect streamers to take the necessary steps to mitigate harassing content that appears on their stream. We will not suspend streamers that we find to be acting in good-faith (including by using tools such as AutoMod, timeouts, and channel bans) to remove abuse appearing from third parties and external sources.

What is the line between hateful conduct and harassment?

Harassment becomes hateful conduct when the behavior is targeted at an individual(s) on the basis of protected characteristic(s). As Twitch does not tolerate any abuse that is motivated by hatred, prejudice or intolerance, the penalty for such behavior is more severe. Instances of Hateful Conduct will always lead to enforcement action, even if the report is submitted by a 3rd-party that wasn’t targeted by this behavior.

Am I required to communicate to another user that I feel harassed by their behavior in order for my report to be considered valid?

No, you may decide that some forms of harassment are severe enough to warrant reporting without first communicating to the other user that they are unwanted. You may choose to communicate that this conduct is unwanted, but we strongly recommend that you do so only if you feel that it is safe and appropriate. If the unwanted behavior persists, we recommend you report the user and consider other options to manage the situation such as blocking the user’s account(s) or banning them from chat. For more information on managing abuse directed towards you, see our guide on How to Manage Harassment in Chat. 

How can I indicate that a behavior is unwanted?

We take context into account when determining whether a violation of our policies has occurred, and this extends to determining whether a behavior against another user is unwanted. You can indicate to others that a behavior is unwanted in several ways, including issuing a channel moderation action (e.g., you or your mod issue a timeout, channel ban, or message deletion) against the individual, or otherwise clearly denouncing the behavior. In addition to reports submitted directly by the target of a behavior, Twitch will also take these indications into account when evaluating reports of harassment and sexual harassment.

I enjoy friendly banter and trash talk. How can I make it clear that I don’t intend to harass anyone?

Be cognizant of others—some people only recognize or enjoy banter when they have an established relationship with the other person. If someone asks you to stop or indicates that your conduct is unwanted, such as through a channel timeout, continuing to target them after that point will be seen as a deliberate attempt to harass. If a discussion becomes heated and goes beyond friendly banter, consider removing yourself from the conversation to prevent the situation from escalating further. Additionally, some topics are generally not viewed as acceptable banter by the community, such as sending sexual solicitations or encouraging others to harm themselves. You should not engage in these behaviors, and doing so will jeopardize your Twitch account. 

Can I be suspended for sexually suggestive conversations even if I do not intend to harass anyone?

Our guidelines on sexual harassment do not apply in conversations where there is clear, mutual consent. However, even if both parties clearly have an established relationship, we will issue an enforcement if we obtain any indication from the target that sexually harassing statements made on Twitch are unwanted, or if mutual consent is not explicitly clear. A person’s physical appearance or attire is not an indication of solicitation or consent. Additionally, please note that sexual commentary that is graphic or extended, even if not in violation of our sexual harassment policy, is still subject to our sexual content policy.

Can I be suspended for hateful or harassing content that viewers put on my stream?

You are responsible for ensuring that content that appears on your stream abides by our Terms of Service and Community Guidelines. If harassing or hateful content does appear on your stream, we expect that you take the necessary steps to mitigate this behavior and keep it from happening again. We will not suspend broadcasters that we find to be acting in good-faith to remove abuse appearing from third parties and external sources, such as by using AutoMod, timeouts, and channel bans. Conversely, we encourage you to report users who attempt to put hateful or harassing content on your channel, as this will lead to a suspension of their Twitch account(s).

Are streamers responsible for all hateful content in their channel? 

Streamers are role models and leaders of the communities they create or foster around them. Streamers are expected to use channel moderators and the tools we provide, such as AutoMod , chat timeouts and bans, to mitigate hateful conduct in their channel. Not using the provided tools to moderate hateful conduct appearing on a channel—or otherwise attempting to mitigate the behavior/content—will lead to a suspension. 

What slurs are considered violating?

We do not make our list of prohibited slurs public so as not to enable or facilitate evasion of this policy. We take context into account when evaluating whether use of a slur violates our policies.

How does Twitch handle humor and satire?

We do not tolerate hateful or harassing behavior, or conduct that encourages or incites hate or harassment in any way. However, we allow users to discuss content that is hateful or harassing for the purposes of satire or education, as long as this context is clear. Satirical content is acceptable if it uses elements such as irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose and critique abusive behaviors. Attempting to promote hateful viewpoints under the guise of education or comedy will lead to suspension of your account. Additionally, exceptions to these standards are made when sharing content from rated movies/TV or developer-generated content in non-prohibited video games in a way that is not directly discriminating or denigrating. 

Are all hateful violations treated equally?

We will take action on all instances of hateful conduct and harassment, with an increasing severity of enforcement when the behavior is targeted, personal, graphic, or repeated/prolonged, incites further abuse, or involves threats of violence or coercion. The most egregious violations may result in an indefinite suspension on the first offense. 

How should I handle cases of potential criminal misconduct?

We encourage users to submit reports against harassment or hateful conduct directed towards themselves. If you feel that this abuse rises to a legal claim or to a crime, however, we encourage you to also seek help from an attorney or your local law enforcement. If someone else’s behavior has made you fear for your own safety or that of your immediate family, we encourage you to report this to your local law enforcement immediately. When contacted by law enforcement through the appropriate legal process, Twitch will provide the relevant information, as laid out in our Terms of Service. 

• Engage in any form of human trafficking, including sex trafficking, sales of children, forced marriages, or domestic servitude
• Buy or sell illegal drugs, firearms, or counterfeit goods on Twitch
• Commit or aid in the destruction, defacement, or theft of public or another person’s property without permission on Twitch

• Performing other people’s copyrighted content, including playing another artist’s copyrighted songs 
• Other Twitch creators’ content or content from other sites
• Pirated games or content from unauthorized private servers
• Movies, television shows, or sports matches
• Music you do not own or do not have the rights to share, including music streamed in the background of a user’s broadcast
• Goods or services protected by trademark
• Closed Alphas/Betas and Pre-Release Games. We ask that you respect all publisher/developer-enforced release dates, embargoes, and NDAs by waiting to broadcast these games until everyone else gets to. Unless given prior approval, your channel may be subject to DMCA takedown by a rights holder. 

• For copyrighted works, the notice-and-takedown process described in our DMCA Guidelines.
• For trademarks, the process described in our Trademark Policy.
• For copyrighted works owned by rights holders with whom Twitch has contractual arrangements, we may have separate reporting and handling processes, for example, the Music Reporting Process.

• Show content with death or extreme injury
• Browse 4chan, the dark web, or porn on Twitch
• Use randomized video chat services

• Explicit, simulated, fictional, or implied sex or masturbation. This includes oral, anal, and vaginal sex, touching of genitals in self or mutual masturbation, or prolonged audio that implies sex/masturbation/orgasm.
  • Adult nudity without implied or real sex acts is subject to our Adult Nudity policies 
• Display of sexual bodily fluids
• Advertisement or solicitation of sexual services, including prostitution, escort services, sexual massages, and filmed sexual activity

• Content that focuses on clothed intimate body parts such as the buttocks, groin, or breasts for extended periods of time.

• Consensual sexual violence such as flogging or whipping another person
  • Non-consensual sexual violence is subject to our Adult Sexual Violence and Exploitation policies 
• Graphic descriptions of sex acts such as phone sex or erotica
• Display of sex toys in a non-educational context, such as bragging about the size of a dildo

The foregoing list is not exhaustive, and Twitch reserves the right to remove content that it deems to be inappropriate.

Users may not directly link, promote, or advertise pornographic content in their broadcasts, profile, or chat. While users may not directly link to pornographic or sexually explicit content in their broadcasts, profile, or chat, users will not be penalized for linking to their personal websites or social media pages that may incidentally contain these links.

For information about content relating to sexuality and sexual themes that is allowed with a label, see the Sexual Themes policy.

I accidentally showed content that was sexually explicit. Will my account be suspended?

As owner of your account, it’s entirely your responsibility to ensure that anything shared on your account abides by Twitch’s Terms of Service (ToS) and Community Guidelines (CG). If you are unsure if a link, photo, video, or other content in your broadcast breaks these, we suggest that you review it privately before airing it on your broadcast. Content that breaks ToS or CG, whether shown accidentally or on purpose, can be reported and moderation may take appropriate action on that content, including removing the content and issuing a suspension on your account. Given the nature of live content, we expect you to take proper precautions; even one incident may warrant action.

If viewers mass report my channel for sexual content, can I be suspended even if I did nothing wrong?

No, frivolous report brigading will never result in a channel being suspended. All of our sexual content enforcements are manually reviewed and issued. If you feel that a suspension has been issued in error, you may file an appeal, the instructions for which can be found on our Account Enforcements help article. All Community Guidelines suspension notifications also contain a link to this article.

Are there restrictions against nudity and sexual content in emotes, badges, and cheermotes?

In addition to Twitch’s Terms of Service and Community Guidelines, all subscriber emotes are subject to the policies detailed in the Subscriber Emoticon Guide. Because subscriber emoticons are available for use globally across Twitch and highly visible outside of their original channels, our emoticon guidelines may be more restrictive than our general Community Guidelines in some instances. Please refer to the Emote Guidelines section to review emote-specific standards for sexual content. 

How does Twitch handle nudity in gaming? 

We handle nudity in games in two ways. First, games featuring nudity, pornography, sex, or sexual violence as a core focus or feature are entirely prohibited. Custom gameplay or visual modifications that include nudity or sex content, including uncensored patches, in otherwise allowed games are prohibited. Learn more about prohibited games.

Second, for games where nudity is not the core focus or feature, the Mature-rated Games Content Classification Label is sufficient for incidental nudity. However, the Sexual Themes label must be applied to gameplay that focuses on nudity. Learn more about the Mature-rated Games Content Classification Label. 

Users may not engage in simulated sexual activity or erotic roleplay with other players in online games. Games that primarily consist of user-generated content, in-game roleplay, or interactions in virtual reality are not exempt from this policy.

Are artistic depictions of nudity allowed?

Artistic depictions of nudity are only allowed in the context of public art (for example, a nude statue in a city square) or art history education (streaming from a museum or an art history lecture).

Is body painting on the breasts and buttocks allowed on Twitch?

As long as attire requirements are met, body painting on the breasts and buttocks is allowed with a Sexual Themes Label. 

• Exposed anuses or fully unclothed and exposed buttocks
• Any amount of exposed genitals
• Female presenting individuals’ breasts with exposed nipples (unless actively breastfeeding a child)

Art history educational content or public art that might feature nude figures are exempt from this policy. 

We don’t permit streamers, their co-hosts, or their invited guests to be fully or partially nude, including exposing genitals or buttocks. 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. We do not permit the visible outline of genitals, even when covered. Broadcasting nude or partially nude minors is always prohibited, regardless of context.

For those who present as women, we ask that you cover your nipples and areolas and do not expose underbust. Cleavage is unrestricted as long as these coverage requirements are met and it is clear that the streamer is wearing clothing. 

For all streamers, you must cover the area extending from your hips to the bottom of your pelvis and buttocks. 

For those areas of the body where coverage is required, the coverage must be fully opaque; sheer or partially see-through clothing does not constitute coverage.

IRL streaming

Streamers, their co-hosts, and invited guests engaging in general IRL streaming outside the home must follow standard body-coverage expectations. Those passing through the background of your stream are not held to the standard dress code requirement and the content does not have to be placed in the Pools, Hot Tubs, and Beaches category, but broadcasting nudity is not permitted regardless of context. If accidental nudity appears on your stream, we expect you to take immediate action, remove the content, and take precautionary steps so it won’t happen again. You should not focus your stream on anyone violating our clothing or sexual content standards; you will be held accountable for doing so to the same extent as if you were violating the standards yourself. 

Swim and beaches, concerts and festivals

Swimwear, short shorts, and bodysuits are permitted as long as they completely cover the genitals, and those who present as women must also cover their nipples and areolas. Full coverage of buttocks is not required, but camera focus around them is still subject to our Sexual Content policy. Coverage must be fully opaque, even when wet. Sheer or partially see-through swimwear or other clothing does not constitute coverage.

Content subject to this contextual exception must be placed within the Pools, Hot Tubs, and Beaches category. Content that violates standard attire guidelines and is not subject to this contextual exception (e.g. wearing a bikini outside of pool or beach setting) is still violative even if placed into the Pools, Hot Tubs, and Beaches category.

Body Art

For streams dedicated to body art, full chest coverage is not required, but those who present as women must completely cover their nipples & areola with a layer of non-transparent clothing or a paint & latex combination (artist-grade pasties, tape, latex or similar alternatives are acceptable). This coverage must be applied before streaming begins, not on-stream. Buttocks and genitals must also be fully covered by opaque attire. In addition, we ask that streamers add a Sexual Themes Content Classification Label when painting on their chests or buttocks.

This exception to the general coverage requirements only applies while the streamer is actively engaged in body painting, though the streamer may take short breaks between active painting sessions, or when painting is complete to model the results.

Context transitions

Streamers are given some leeway for making transitions between contexts with different limits of acceptable attire (e.g., beach to general outdoor IRL streaming). In these situations, streamers are expected to only spend as much time wearing insufficient attire as needed to add clothing or change offscreen into clothing with appropriate coverage for the new context.

Additional exceptions

The standard chest coverage requirements outlined above do not apply to individuals actively breastfeeding a child on stream. 

What clothing is appropriate for my stream?

Given the variety of content and activities creators engage in, an explicit dress code would be unreasonably restrictive. Streaming is a public activity that reaches a global audience of many ages and cultures, and as such we prohibit nudity and sexual conduct. When evaluating reports for sexual conduct, attire is just one factor we will use in making a determination on whether conduct is acceptable.

We recommend streamers wear attire that would be publicly appropriate for the context, location, and activity they are broadcasting. For example, workout clothes would be appropriate for a fitness stream and a swimsuit would be appropriate for a stream from a public beach.

Why aren’t there specific rules about what clothing is and isn’t allowed on Twitch?

As Twitch continues to expand the variety of content we feature, so comes the need for updating the range of attire that is acceptable. For example, something that is acceptable for a broadcast at the beach or the gym may not be acceptable for a cooking or gameplay broadcast. In an effort to help streamers abide by our Community Guidelines in the same way they would expectations of behavior in the real world, we’ve updated our policies to reflect that we will consider not just the attire itself, but also the contextual setting in which it is worn and the intent of the person wearing it, when moderating content. Please remember that content focusing on covered genitals, buttocks, or breasts for extended periods of time are prohibited under our Sexual Content policy. 

Does the attire policy apply to VTubers?

The attire policy applies to VTubers, in the same way it applies to other streamers. 

• Breaking the law, including terrorism and child exploitation
• Violence and threats
• Hateful conduct
• Harassment and sexual harassment
• Unauthorized sharing of private information
• Impersonation
• Glorification of natural or violent tragedies
• Self-destructive behavior
• References to recreational drugs, hard drugs, and drug abuse, with exceptions for alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana
• References to sexual acts, genital, or sexual fluids

• References to terrorism or terrorist organizations
• References to child grooming or exploitation
• Threats, promotions, or calls to real-life violence against others (with exceptions for references to video game or non-hateful historical violence)
  • Calling for another group of people to be harmed or killed
  • Creating a username that threatens violence against another person
• Hateful Conduct, including slurs and derogatory terminology related to protected characteristics
  • Creating a username that includes a hateful slur
  • Glorifying, promoting, or advocating for discrimination, denigration, segregation, exclusion, hatred, or disgust based on protected characteristics (see our Hateful Conduct policy for more information)
  • Creating a username that references a hate group
  • Mocking, denying, or glorifying the occurrence of well-documented hate crimes or acts of genocide
• Harassment and Sexual Harassment directed towards another person
  • Creating a username that is sexually degrading towards another person
  • Creating a username that includes insults targeted towards another person’s sexual practices
  • Creating a username that includes a personal attack or targeted profanity against another person
  • Directing an insulting username towards another person
  • Mocking streamers, community members, or their friends and family that have passed away
• Threats or promotion of suicide and self-harm
  • Glorifying methods of self-harm, including suicide and eating disorders
  • Encouraging another person to self-harm or commit suicide
  • Registering a username that threatens suicidal action
• Personal information of another person leaked without consent
  • IP addresses, email addresses
  • Mailing addresses, home addresses, private work or school addresses
  • Personal or private phone numbers
  • Sensitive identification or financial information, such as bank account numbers or government ID numbers
• Impersonation of another person, company, or organization
  • Attempting to misrepresent yourself as a staff member or employee of Twitch
  • Creating an account with a nearly identical name to another Twitch user and attempting to pass yourself off as them
  • Attempting to pose as a representative of a company or organization without authorization (See the Trademark Policy for more information on usernames that may constitute legal violation of a trademark.)
• Glorification of natural or violent tragedies
  • Glorifying references to specific natural disasters that are responsible for death, such as Hurricane Katrina
  • Glorifying people directly responsible for the murder or death of others, such as serial killers
  • Celebrating deaths of individuals due to violence, including suicides and lethal government or police actions (see Hateful Conduct for more on our guidelines regarding glorifying violence on the basis of a protected class)

• References to hard drugs, recreational drugs, and drug abuse (with the exceptions of alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana)
  • Explicitly referencing recreational drugs or psychoactive substances, such as peyote
  • Explicitly referencing hard drugs, including cocaine or heroin
  • Overtly glorifying the abuse of prescription or harmful drugs, including practices such as inhalant abuse
• References to pornography, sexually explicit, and sexually suggestive content or behavior
  • Creating usernames that reference explicit or implied sexual acts
  • Creating usernames that indicate overt sexual arousal
  • Creating usernames that include references to genitalia or sexual bodily fluids
  • References to sexually transmitted infections and other types of sexual-related trauma
  • Overt references to sexual fetishes
• Using terms related sexual orientation or disability in an insulting context or as a negative descriptor   (reminder that using terms related to protected groups in an openly hateful or derogatory way will result in an indefinite suspension, see Hateful Conduct above)
  • Creating a name that uses terms related to Autism or intellectual disability in a negative or insulting context
  • Creating a name that uses terms related to sexual orientation, such as ‘gay,’ in a negative or insulting context

Username resets are leveraged in these cases under the assumption that these violations are likely mistaken or unintentional. However, repeatedly renaming an account in violation of our username policy will result in further enforcement actions against your account, up to an indefinite suspension.

What is a username reset and how does it differ from an account suspension?

Username and display name resets force you to change your name but do not result in your account being suspended. If your username is reset through an enforcement action, you will receive an email notification asking you to choose a new username and/or display name. Until you follow these steps and rename your account, you will be unable to access your account on Twitch. Once you have renamed your account, you will be able to use Twitch as normal, and your account history (aside from the offending username) will be preserved.

Why does Twitch enforce against some content in usernames that would not be considered Community Guidelines violations in other types of content?

These additional standards are often tied to values that exist in our Community Guidelines, but there are contextual differences in usernames and display names compared to other types of content that change how we approach enforcement. We call out above that usernames are more visible, persistent, and cross-functional than most other types of content on Twitch. Usernames are often the most discoverable part of an account, and they contain very little context at a glance. In some instances, usernames may also be representative of the content or focus of a channel’s activity. As an example of how these differences in standards are applied, while we prohibit pornography on Twitch, using the word ‘pornography’ in chat would not result in an account suspension. However, a username that contained the term ‘pornography’ would be enforced as a violation of this policy with a reset.

If Twitch has the ability to reset account usernames, why suspend some accounts indefinitely?

Our suspension data indicates that the vast majority of users who create names that would result in indefinite suspensions create many such accounts, and are often involved in malicious raiding, brigading, and harassment campaigns. Because these individuals harm and spread toxicity within the Twitch community, we indefinitely suspend them immediately in order to mitigate this abuse, as well as remove the username. As with all account enforcements, if you have been suspended under this policy and believe that there has been a mistake or error, you may submit a suspension appeal (instructions can be found here).

If usernames can be such a large issue, what is Twitch doing to proactively monitor them at account sign-up?

We do have systems in place to proactively monitor usernames at account sign-up and automatically deny names that appear to violate our policies. However, malicious individuals often leverage a number of tactics to try and confuse these systems. While our automated detection catches a significant amount of this abuse, we also leverage account suspensions and resets to deal with names that do manage to evade or pre-date our filtering system.

• Share a referral code to a slots site with your chat
• Include a banner with a link to online roulette games
• Verbally refer your chat to a site containing dice games

• stake.com
• rollbit.com
• duelbits.com
• roobet.com
• blaze.com
• gamdom.com

We may identify others as we move forward.

Are free social versions of these websites allowed? 

No, we do not allow free social versions of the sites listed above.

Does this policy prohibit fantasy sports, sports betting, and poker?

No, we still permit broadcasting websites focused on fantasy sports, sports betting, and poker at this time.

Is sponsorship of skins gambling, such as for CSGO skins, allowed on Twitch?

No, promotion or sponsorship of skins gambling is prohibited under our policy.

• Impersonate a Twitch partner’s account
• Pose as a celebrity in a streamer’s chat

• Post spam, such as large amounts of repetitive, unwanted messages or user reports
• Distribute unauthorized advertisements
• Engage in phishing, spreading malware, or viruses
• Defraud Twitch or others
• Engage in viewership tampering (such as artificially inflating follow or live viewer stats)
• Sell or sharing user accounts, services, or features
• Cheat the Twitch rewards system (such as the Drops or channel points systems)
• Engage in any cheating, hacking, botting, or tampering, that gives the account owner an unfair advantage in an online multiplayer game

We understand that sometimes streamers are victims of account takeover, fraud, or viewbotting directed by a malicious third party. We have methods to detect the responsible party and do not penalize good-faith streamers under these circumstances.

• Create a new account in order to evade a suspension issued to your primary account

Streamers allowed on Twitch may not:

• Create a channel that functions to rebroadcast a suspended user’s content (e.g. channel panels and name similar to suspended user and rebroadcasts are presented without commentary)
• Have a one-on-one interview with a suspended user or participate in a stream with a suspended user in a group setting where the suspended user actively participates in your stream
• Attend and stream on Twitch an event hosted by or to celebrate a suspended user

• Misinformation that targets protected groups, which is already prohibited under our Hateful Conduct & Harassment Policy
• Harmful health misinformation and wide-spread conspiracy theories related to dangerous treatments, COVID-19, and COVID-19 vaccine misinformation
  • Discussions of treatments that are known to be harmful without noting the dangers of such treatments
  • For COVID-19—and any other WHO-declared Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC)—misinformation that causes imminent physical harm or is part of a broad conspiracy
• Misinformation promoted by conspiracy networks tied to violence and/or promoting violence
• Civic misinformation that undermines the integrity of a civic or political process
  • Promotion of verifiably false claims related to the outcome of a fully vetted political process, including election rigging, ballot tampering, vote tallying, or election fraud*
• In instances of public emergencies (e.g., wildfires, earthquakes, active shootings), we may also act on misinformation that may impact public safety

*Note: In order to evaluate civic misinformation claims, we work with independent misinformation experts such as the Global Disinformation Index, as well as information from election boards and congressional certification.