Twitch announced on Wednesday (7) that it will start to punish cases of misconduct off the platform. This means that users’ behavior on other social networks may be taken into account during whistleblowing investigations. Bans, however, only happen if infractions start on the website and continue elsewhere, or if they bring risks to the service community.

Twitch HQ (Image: SFGATE)

In an email sent to users, Twitch explains that there are two categories of inappropriate behavior outside the platform that can result in punishments on the site.

The first case happens when someone initiates a harassment in the chat of a livestream on Twitch and continues with the same speech on other social networks. If these posts outside of Twitch are included in the reports, they will be analyzed when deciding the user’s punishment.

The other situation occurs when user behavior on other social networks threatens the security of the Twitch community in some way. For example, if someone speaks on a website that intends to attack an event in which there are Twitch members, that post can be reported to the platform.

According to Twitch’s Off-Service Conduct Policy, serious crimes can result in more severe penalties, such as banning the account on the first offense. The crimes considered serious are:

To report misconduct outside Twitch, you need to send an email with the reason and evidence to OSIT@twitch.tv. According to the platform, the messages are anonymous and confidential. To analyze the most complex cases, the website informs that there is a partnership with a law firm specialized in the investigative area.