Not too long ago, a massive treasure trove of Twitch data was leaked online in which it contained data like the site’s source code, streamer payout numbers, and more. It appears that after combing through the leaked data, a report from the Washington Post has revealed that apparently Twitch used to exempt some of its top streamers from some of its rules.Now this isn’t so much that these streamers can do what they like on their streams and not be banned for violating the rules. It’s not a blanket exemption. Instead, it seems like this is basically a list of streamers that have been flagged so that in the event that complaints are made about them, instead of immediately taking action, the complaints are sent to specific moderators for additional review.
According to a former employee, they told the publication, “The ‘Do not ban’ list was more like a ‘Do not ban this channel for x’ [list]. [It was] basically a way to add a red notification on reports against [a] channel to make the admins working on reports aware that there are some agreements in place or that the channel is allowed to do certain things. Often it was used to allow what we now call IRL streams.”
In a way we can’t say we’re surprised. After all if Twitch were to start banning its top streamers for minor infractions, it might force them to leave the platform and join a competitor. Twitch has since confirmed that this list is real, but they also stated that it is old and is no longer in use. The company now has a Trust and Safety Operations team that handles all complaints in a bid to be more consistent and standardized with regards to moderation for all streamers on its platform.