{"id":1034889,"date":"2026-01-15T22:50:22","date_gmt":"2026-01-15T22:50:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.polygon.com\/?p=480340"},"modified":"2026-01-15T22:50:22","modified_gmt":"2026-01-15T22:50:22","slug":"twitch-draws-lines-over-zionist-in-hateful-conduct-policy-update","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/twitch-draws-lines-over-zionist-in-hateful-conduct-policy-update\/","title":{"rendered":"Twitch draws lines over ‘Zionist’ in Hateful Conduct policy update"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Twitch updated its Hateful Conduct policy Thursday to include a new ban on the word \u201cZionist\u201d \u2014 but only if it\u2019s used \u201cto attack or demean another individual or group of people on the basis of their background or religious belief.\u201d The next line of the statement, which Twitch posted to its blog<\/a>, states, \u201cWe recognize that \u2018Zionist\u2019 and \u2018Zionism\u2019 also refer to a political movement. Using the term to refer to the political movement, whether in a supportive or critical way, does not violate our Hateful Conduct policy.\u201d<\/p>\n

The policy now reads, \u201cWe treat \u2018Zionists\u2019 as a proxy for Jews or Israelis if the word is used in a context to promote harm or violence, or when used to make dehumanizing comparisons or perpetuate antisemitic stereotypes.\u201d The policy contains one example of allowed speech \u2014 \u201cZionist settlers keep encroaching Palestinian borders\u201d \u2014 and one example of prohibited speech \u2014 \u201cZionist [name of animal].\u201d<\/p>\n

Pro-Palestine protestors often use the phrase \u201cZionist pig\u201d to refer to the police officers who staff protests and rallies. But this particular example in the new policy is likely in direct response to a letter Rep. Ritchie Torres, D-N.Y., sent to Twitch on Nov. 4, alleging that Twitch allows\u00a0posts that contain antisemitic tropes and stereotypes<\/a>\u00a0on its platform. Torres sent the letter three days before winning reelection in New York \u2014 a campaign which received more than $500,000 in donations from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee<\/a> in the 2024 election cycle. The Twitch Hateful Conduct policy change comes 11 days after Torres\u2019 letter.<\/p>\n

Twitch leadership has not made a formal statement on the genocide in Gaza, though it did apologize to users after Israeli and Gazan users were temporarily banned<\/a> from creating new accounts after the attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Twitch has also banned creators for hate speech in the past, such as Asmongold\u2019s two-week ban for offensive statements about Palestinians<\/a>. <\/p>\n

The concept of equating the descriptor \u201cZionist\u201d with Jews or Israelis is also not new. The U.S. House of Representatives passed a measure on Dec. 6, 2023 that classified anti-Zionism as antisemitism and described the phrase \u201cfrom the river to the sea\u201d as a \u201crallying cry for the eradication of the State of Israel and the Jewish people.\u201d Vox.com\u2019s Zack Beauchamp defines Zionist<\/a> as a person who believes \u201cJudaism is a nationality as well as a religion.\u201d <\/p>\n

Twitch has not published its own definition of the word Zionist as of the time of writing. Twitch has also not responded to a request for comment.<\/p>\n

Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Twitch updated its Hateful Conduct policy Thursday to include a new ban on the word \u201cZionist\u201d \u2014 but only if it\u2019s used \u201cto attack or demean another individual or group of people on the basis of their background or religious belief.\u201d The next line of the statement, which Twitch posted to its blog, states, \u201cWe recognize that \u2018Zionist\u2019 and \u2018Zionism\u2019 also refer to a political movement. Using the term to refer to the political movement, whether in a supportive or critical way, does not violate our Hateful Conduct policy.\u201d The policy now reads, \u201cWe treat \u2018Zionists\u2019 as a proxy for Jews or Israelis if the word is used in a context to promote harm or violence, or when used to make dehumanizing comparisons or perpetuate…<\/p>\n

Read More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1034890,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1034889","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-polygon"],"yoast_head":"\nTwitch draws lines over ‘Zionist’ in Hateful Conduct policy update | Arcader News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Twitch updated its Hateful Conduct policy Thursday to include a new ban on the word \u201cZionist\u201d \u2014 but only if it\u2019s used \u201cto attack or demean another\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/twitch-draws-lines-over-zionist-in-hateful-conduct-policy-update\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta 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