Livestreaming platform Twitch said Friday it would introduce a new “Pools, Hot Tubs, and Beaches” tag in order to accommodate the rise in popularity of water-based streamers who are sometimes “found to be sexy by others.”
The addition of the tags means that advertisers can include or avoid channels that feature streamers who wear bathing suits and hang out in and around bodies of water, both manmade and naturally-occurring.
In the blog post “Let’s Talk About Hot Tub Streams,” Twitch said, “While we have guidelines about sexually suggestive content, being found to be sexy by others is not against our rules, and Twitch will not take enforcement action against women, or anyone on our service, for their perceived attractiveness.” [Emphasis Twitch.]
The move comes days after Twitch pulled ads without warning for popular streamer Kaitlyn “Amouranth” Siragusa (pictured) and other hot tub streamers, drawing criticism about how Twitch enforces its terms of services, and how the company handles streamers who happen to be found sexy by others.
Twitch acknowledged this, saying, “We recently suspended advertising on some channels that were flagged by the majority of our advertiser base and failed to notify them. Our creators rely on us, and we should have alerted affected streamers to this change before it happened–it was a mistake not to do so.”
The company said it is working with streamers who were affected to reinstate ads where appropriate. Twitch said the addition of the category is not a long-term solution but in the near-term solves issues for viewers, advertisers, and streamers who are found to be sexy by others.