Twitch updates Hateful Conduct Policy to include 'Zionist' as potential slur
MEMO
November 17, 2024
The logo of “Twitch” is displayed on a smartphone in Ankara, Turkey on October 6, 2021 [Hakan Nural/Anadolu Agency]
Twitch has updated its “Hateful Conduct Policy” to include “Zionist” as a potential slur, amid growing content critical of the occupation state and the genocide it is committing in Gaza, as well as its aggression against Lebanon, on the platform.
The Amazon-owned streaming service announced the change in a blog post on Friday, stating that “using the term ‘Zionist’ to attack or demean another individual or group of people on the basis of their background or religious belief is against our rules.” The platform emphasised its prohibition of terms that, while not inherently harmful, can be used to denigrate others in specific contexts.
Twitch clarified that referring to “Zionist” or “Zionism” as part of political discourse does not violate its policy, as long as it doesn’t target individuals. “Our goal isn’t to stifle conversation about or criticism of an institution or ideology, but to prevent coded hate directed at individuals and groups of people,” the company said.
The policy change follows criticism from figures like US congressman Ritchie Torres and the Anti-Defamation League, who argued that Twitch allowed hate toward Jewish people to persist. Torres, who recently won re-election with significant donations from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), had accused the platform of failing to curb “antisemitic” content, specifically targeting popular Turkish-American streamer Hasan Piker for his pro-Palestine stance and speaking out against the occupation state.
Twitch’s policy change is part of a broader trend among social media platforms tightening their content rules around speech when it comes to criticising Israel and condemning the atrocities the US-backed occupation forces are carrying out. Last year, Human Rights Watch reported that Meta systematically censored pro-Palestinian voices on Facebook and Instagram.
MEMO
November 17, 2024
The logo of “Twitch” is displayed on a smartphone in Ankara, Turkey on October 6, 2021 [Hakan Nural/Anadolu Agency]
Twitch has updated its “Hateful Conduct Policy” to include “Zionist” as a potential slur, amid growing content critical of the occupation state and the genocide it is committing in Gaza, as well as its aggression against Lebanon, on the platform.
The Amazon-owned streaming service announced the change in a blog post on Friday, stating that “using the term ‘Zionist’ to attack or demean another individual or group of people on the basis of their background or religious belief is against our rules.” The platform emphasised its prohibition of terms that, while not inherently harmful, can be used to denigrate others in specific contexts.
Twitch clarified that referring to “Zionist” or “Zionism” as part of political discourse does not violate its policy, as long as it doesn’t target individuals. “Our goal isn’t to stifle conversation about or criticism of an institution or ideology, but to prevent coded hate directed at individuals and groups of people,” the company said.
The policy change follows criticism from figures like US congressman Ritchie Torres and the Anti-Defamation League, who argued that Twitch allowed hate toward Jewish people to persist. Torres, who recently won re-election with significant donations from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), had accused the platform of failing to curb “antisemitic” content, specifically targeting popular Turkish-American streamer Hasan Piker for his pro-Palestine stance and speaking out against the occupation state.
Twitch’s policy change is part of a broader trend among social media platforms tightening their content rules around speech when it comes to criticising Israel and condemning the atrocities the US-backed occupation forces are carrying out. Last year, Human Rights Watch reported that Meta systematically censored pro-Palestinian voices on Facebook and Instagram.
MEMO
November 16, 2024
Spokesman for the Palestinian presidency, Nabil Abu Rudeineh speaks during a press conference in Ramallah, West Bank on December 05, 2017 [ Issam Rimawi/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images]
The escalating violence by illegal Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank and the ongoing war in Gaza are directly linked to US support for Israel, the Palestinian presidency said on Saturday, Anadolu Agency reports.
In a statement, Nabil Abu Rudeineh, spokesperson for the Palestinian Presidency, called for “urgent international intervention to prevent further devastation caused by Israeli actions.”
He stressed that “continuous policies of condemnation and denunciation have proven ineffective in addressing the violence.”
“This Israeli escalation of terrorism and defiance of international law is a direct result of the unwavering support from the United States,” he said.
He further stressed that both “Israeli terrorism and American backing will not bring security or stability to the region.”
READ: ‘Ethnic cleansing, war crime’: Palestine slams homes demolition by Israel in East Jerusalem
Tension has been running high across the occupied West Bank due to Israel’s deadly war on the Gaza Strip, which has killed nearly 43,700 people, mostly women and children, since Oct. 7, 2023.
Over 783 Palestinians have since been killed and over 6,300 others injured by Israeli army fire in the occupied territory, according to the Health Ministry.
The escalation follows a landmark July opinion by the International Court of Justice that declared Israel’s decades-long occupation of Palestinian land “illegal” and demanded the evacuation of all existing settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
International observers have long decried the support of Western nations for Israel as being complicit in its genocide in the Gaza Strip, especially the US.
The support of the Biden administration, including supplying weapons to Israel, has been cited as a factor in Donald Trump defeating Vice President Kamala Harris, President Joe Biden’s intended successor, in last week’s US presidential elections.
No comments:
Post a Comment