Livestreaming platform Twitch will be updating its policies regarding gambling as they acknowledge the recent discussions around it on the site.
In a statement posted on Twitter, Twitch stated that it will ban the streaming of “gambling sites that include slots, roulette, or dice games” on their next policy update effective October 18th.
An update on gambling on Twitch. pic.twitter.com/lckNTY9Edo
— Twitch (@Twitch) September 20, 2022
However, not all gambling will be banned as the site is still allowing websites that “focus on sports betting, fantasy sports, and poker,” while the aforementioned activities will only be allowed if they are licensed in the U.S. or in “other jurisdictions that provide consumer protection.”
The statement comes after multiple popular streamers on the site have called out Twitch to ban slots content on the platform with the hashtag #TwitchStopGambling. Some creators even threatened to boycott Twitch if they did not ban gambling on the site in the form of a one-week content strike.
As an example, one of the streamers on the platform, Sliker, who is known for playing Valorant and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, reportedly scammed his viewers and fellow streamers for more than $200,000 and admitted live on his stream that he had misappropriated viewer donations and instead used them to fund his gambling addiction.
I’m working with @xQc to pay everyone back who got scammed by sliker
It’s time @Twitch does something about gambling streams
— ludwig (@LudwigAhgren) September 18, 2022
One of the sites that will be affected by the policy change is stake.com which is a popular gambling website that focuses on sports and casino betting with the use of cryptocurrency. Prominent streamers like xQc and Trainwreckstv frequently feature the site on their streams which concerns many because they have younger audiences watching them.
The platform has put some measures back in 2021 wherein they updated their policies to attempt to prevent streamers from sharing links of referral codes to sites that include slots, roulette, or dice games, however it was to no effect.
According to a report from Bloomberg, gambling is flourishing on Twitch because gambling sites are sponsoring streamers to gamble online. Big streamers an cater to as many as 70,000 viewers and have had deals with crypto gambling sites.
The slots category on the platform is currently the tenth most popular category on Twitch and has about 80,000 viewers and most are below the age of 18.
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