Twitch highlights its safety tools following Dr Disrespect ban scandal

Twitch is pointing to its multiple safety features in response to the reason for Dr Disrespect’s indefinite ban finally being revealed.

In June 2024, former Twitch employees finally broke their silence about Dr Disrespect’s ban, claiming that he was removed from the site for sending explicit messages to a minor.

Doc, real name Guy Beahm, would later confirm the claims. In a tweet, he confessed that in 2017, he chatted with a minor using the Twitch Whisper feature and sent messages that “sometimes leaned too much in the direction of being inappropriate.”

However, additional reports contradicted this, stating that once he was aware of the user’s age, his messages were “no less graphic and in sexually explicit nature than before.”

TwitchCon Europe kicked off just days after news about Dr Disrespect’s ban broke and staff were asked directly about it.

According to EuroGamer, Twitch declined to talk about Dr Disrespect when asked about the situation, but they did follow-up by referencing the platform’s safety tools.

“Harassment has no place on Twitch, and we take enforcement of our harassment and hateful conduct policies seriously,” a spokesperson said and referenced tools such as Automod and follower verification to help keep users safe.

“These tools, in addition to our ongoing, 24/7 content moderation, help prevent harassment on Twitch. We continue to build on this work.”

VP of global partnerships Pontus Eskilsson made similar points at TwitchCon and reiterated the importance of keeping the platform a safe place.

“Streamer safety is top of mind for me. It’s important for us that we run an inclusive website… Everybody’s wellbeing on Twitch is definitely a key area for us and we’ve invested a lot in safety features to give to moderators and to streamers. That’s something we’re going to keep doing for the foreseeable future, because it’s an ever-evolving work stream,” he explained.

While the reason for Dr Disrespect’s ban was kept under wraps for a long time, the consequences have been severe since the reason was revealed.

Doc was removed from his own gaming studio, and lost quite a few brand deals. Rogue Company, a game that hasn’t received any updates since October 2023, even came back just to remove the streamer’s content.

Dr Disrespect has announced an extended vacation from streaming and has not made a statement since his confession. While he plans to return, it’s not clear when or if he will come back to YouTube now that his channel has been demonetized.

Kick, meanwhile, hasn’t ruled out the possibility of allowing Dr Disrespect on the platform, with its staff saying it’s “too soon” to preemptively ban him.