Twitch Has Officially Banned The Word 'Simp'

As one of the biggest streaming platforms in the world, Twitch isn't taking its zero-tolerance stance on harassment lying down. With growing complaints about a "toxic" Twitch community, those at the top are clamping down on the language used and have banned a series of words that are being thrown around as insults. The most notable ban is the use of the word "simp" - which is used negatively to refer to someone who is submissive and would do anything for someone.

While the word simp has largely been used to define men who fawn over attractive women on Twitch, it can apply to any gender on both sides of the coin. Only recently, there was a failed case where one man tried to sue Twitch for $25 million over "simp culture".  The new rules on which words are banned were highlighted on Reddit by u/Floarul, who sparked debate on whether this was a move in the right direction or gives Twitch too much control over our freedom of speech. Safe to say, the argument soon got pretty heated on both sides. 

• Related: xQc Hits Out At Twitch Viewers Over Female Streamers

 

Why has Twitch banned Simp?

Discussing why words including "simp", "virgin", and "incel" will be banned, Twitch COO Sara Clemens explained the service is rehashing its policies and when. During the livestream, Clemens confirmed they will go into effect on January 22, 2021. She continued, "Using terms like ‘simp’, ‘incel’ and ‘virgin’ as an insult – to negatively refer to another person’s sexual activity – is not allowed under this new policy". 

“In addition to the policy change, we’re also proactively denying emotes that include the term ‘simp’. And we remove them when reported, and we’ll keep doing that once the policy changes".

The use of these words won't be completely outlawed though - only when used as an insult. A Twitch spokesperson told The Verge, "Using these terms on their own wouldn’t lead to an enforcement but we would take action if they were used repeatedly in a harassing manner". 

Elsewhere, you can face a ban for a range of sexual harassment offences including suggesting a person's channel is popular due to sexual favours, making unsolicited sexual advances on someone, or threatening to leak compromising pictures. 

You can read the full and updated Hateful Conduct and Harassment policies here to familiarise yourselves on how not to get banned from Twitch!

Although most of the more extreme words should be easy to moderate, it's unclear how Twitch will be able to tackle the use of the word "simp". It's a word that is thrown around a lot on Twitch, meaning there's barely a stream that goes by that someone isn't branded a simp. Twitch's heart is in the right place with this one, however, it remains to be seen just how easy these new harassment rules will be to enforce.

 

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