Twitch is expanding their existing rules, mandating certain usernames are no longer acceptable. Outlined in a new blog post, Twitch confirmed that's designed to reduce harm across their service, disallowing names based around sex, drugs, and other criminal activities.
Elaborating further, Twitch confirmed:
In order to ensure that our community is safe and inclusive, inappropriate account names that violate our Community Guidelines are prohibited. We also recognize that an account’s username has more impact across our services than many other forms of content because they are persistent, cross-functional, and, in most cases, much more visible.
Twitch Expands Username Rules, Banning Drug References
Stating they have "higher standards for usernames" with reducing harm on the platform, there's a fair list of rules surrounding this. That disallows anything based on criminal activity, hateful conduct, sexual harassment, impersonation, references to recreational drugs - excluding alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana - and more.
Twitch remains a popular platform for users to share their hobbies, primarily video games but also watch-alongs and discussions. It's seen previous controversies regarding revenue split and streamer harassment, and you can find popular streamers like Pokimane and Ninja right here.