On Tuesday, Twitch revealed updates to its suspension policy, moving away from the previous all-or-nothing approach. Previously, temporary suspensions meant users lost access to the platform entirely, including chatting, watching streams while logged in, and accessing basic information. The new system introduces two types of suspensions: streaming suspensions and chatting suspensions.
The revamped approach aims to tailor restrictions to the specific violation, addressing the limitations of their prior system.
If a user breaches Twitch’s Community Guidelines during a livestream, their account will face a suspension from streaming, and chat on their channel will be disabled temporarily. During such a streaming suspension, users can still watch streams, chat on other channels, and access their dashboard. Viewers can continue to watch existing clips and videos from the user.
In cases of chat violations, users will face a chat suspension, meaning they can still stream or watch content but cannot participate in chats on other streams. However, they can still chat in their own channel.
Twitch clarified that severe violations pose significant risks and will result in simultaneous chatting and streaming suspensions to mitigate harm. The most serious offenses will lead to indefinite suspensions, removing all access to Twitch, as there is no room for grave violations on the platform.
The duration of temporary suspensions remains unchanged, lasting from 24 hours to 30 days. Repeat violations will result in longer suspensions, and accumulating multiple temporary bans may lead to an indefinite suspension.
Twitch assesses the severity of a violation based on the harm it causes or could cause, defining harm as any action resulting in physical, emotional, social, or financial damage to a user or Twitch.
Future updates will introduce additional suspension types as Twitch continues to evolve its policies.