As of next month, the words “simp”, “incel” and “virgin” will be banned when used as an insult on Twitch, says COO Sara Clemens.
“We will take action against the use of terms like ‘simp’, ‘incel’ or ‘virgin’ specifically when they are being used to negatively refer to another persons sexual practices,” a Twitch spokesperson announced.
They opened further, “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”
Following a huge number of complaints about abusive behaviour, these changes are a part of Twitch’s effort to reform its harassment policy.
Along with these specific terms, Twitch also bans “derogatory statements about another person’s perceived sexual practices or sexual morality”.
The popular game-streaming platform launched a review of its policies around harassment and hateful conduct earlier this year. The latter was addressed last week when the company stipulated that blackface, swastikas and the confederate flag were being banned under its hateful images policy.