According to multiple Twitch employees, the company didn’t properly handle accusations of inappropriate behaviour. In a report made by GamesIndustry.biz Twitch apparently has a lot of problems within the company and it has a long history of cases of racism, sexism, misconduct and more.
In the report we find interviews with multiple Twitch employees who were with the company at different times detailing events that took place over the last decade, even going back as far back as Justin.tv. As Twitch has increasingly been cracking down on sexual content in the past years, they’ve been accused of being to conservative when it comes to handing out bans and warnings.
Twitch employees allege a long history of sexism and racism at the company https://t.co/auVEItGt94 pic.twitter.com/Kd1qmU7Oef
— PC Gamer (@pcgamer) October 9, 2020
One of the former employees said: “Women streamers ‘ concerns were not taken seriously. There was never any talk about ‘Should we make a formal system?’ or tools of any kind to help them manage the constant harassment. There was an attitude in the office, especially among the partnership team of ‘What do boob streamers expect?”. The full report can be read over at GamesIndustry.biz.
Statement by Twitch
Today Twitch sent out a statement in response to the report.
“It’s deeply disappointing to read accounts of toxicity from people who had negative experiences at and on Twitch. Clearly, some of the processes and policies we had in the past did not do enough to make our employees and community members feel safe and valued. While we are not without fault or above criticism, this article does not adequately acknowledge all the ways in which our company has evolved and the numerous steps we’ve taken over the years to build a company that protects and supports our employees and community.”
“We’ve invested heavily in our HR and safety teams, brought in new, diverse leadership and will continue to invest time and resources in this area. We take any allegations of this nature extremely seriously, whether on our service or within our company, and work swiftly to investigate and address them as appropriate, bringing in third parties to ensure impartiality when needed. Any claims to the contrary simply misrepresent our culture and values.”
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