- Twitch on Friday will end the contracts for all members of its Safety Advisory Council, a resource made up of industry experts, streamers and moderators, who consulted on trust and safety issues.
- The council has advised Twitch on “drafting new policies and policy updates,” “developing products and features to improve safety and moderation” and “protecting the interests of marginalized groups,” per a company webpage.
- On May 6, council members were called into a meeting after receiving an email that all existing contracts would conclude on May 31, 2024, and that they would not receive payment for the second half of 2024.
If safety is in the way of a slight increase in profit and there are no expensive legal consequences, safety has to go. And companies like X are testing how far you can go without consequences.
There are consequences for X. Advertisers are pulling out and it’s becoming increasingly unpalatable for companies and people to use, and so its user base is not exactly growing rapidly (although I have no evidence to say it is shrinking).