[ad_1]
“No one was held responsible for anything and there was no one to turn to if they threatened you, felt threatened, or hurt you in any way.”
– One of several Twitch employees speaking to GamesIndustry argues that reports of inappropriate behavior were not handled properly during his time on Twitch.
Numerous former and current Twitch employees say the live streaming giant has repeatedly failed both its employees and its community. Those slights, as reported by more than a dozen staff members, include allegations of sexism and misconduct that span the entire reign of the company, and disregard for valid issues raised by community members and staff. equally.
A recent report by GamesIndustry compiles the experiences and allegations of 16 past and present Twitch employees from the 13 years of the company’s operation (including their days as Justin.tv). According to the post, most of the people he spoke to were able to attest to moments of inaction against bullying and abuse and a company fostering a toxic culture.
Women who have worked at Twitch call the company a “boy’s club” and say a culture of casual sexism permeated the company in its early days, although complaints of sexism were one of the most common issues raised by those who spoke to GamesIndustry. .
Those complaints include sexist language used to refer to women in the workplace, sometimes to the face, and inaction by HR and company leaders when women reported misogyny and experienced harassment. at work.
This attitude also extends beyond staff members, with some employees recounting how issues faced by female streamers were often ignored or not taken seriously, while decision makers on Twitch routinely categorized women. who broadcast on Twitch as “boob streamers” and dismissed their complaints on that basis. .
“With the top leadership, I found it to be extreme arrogance,” a source tells GamesIndustry. “You said there were accusations of racism or sexism, etc. For me, it was more general apathy, extreme arrogance and righteousness about their beliefs that led me to believe that this was not a culture that encourages diversity of thoughts and styles.”
Another employee later adds that Twitch, after years of indifference, only began to focus on improving its moderation efforts when headlines from platforms such as Sony and Microsoft raised concerns about implementing Twitch support on their consoles due to the policies of lax moderation throughout Twitch.
Twitch has commented on many of the individual allegations within the full story with statements ranging from an acknowledgment of changes made since the incidents themselves came to light to a comment that any suggestion that incidents are not taken seriously. like these “misrepresents”[s] our culture, leadership and values ”.
That said, the comments collected here are just a fraction of the experiences on office culture, inappropriate behavior at Twitch sanctioned parties, cultural insensitivity, and general toxicity described in the GamesIndustry report which can be found in full here. .
