Alert: Child Abuse Content Shared Through Twitch 'Clips' by Predators

• Twitch exploited by child predators to groom young streamers.
• Twitch's "clips" feature used to share explicit videos of minors.
• Study reveals sexualized content in clips, mainly involving young boys.
• Clips were viewed thousands of times, amplifying the problem.
• Twitch outlines plan to combat child predation on the platform.

Child Predation Concerns on Twitch

Photo: NurPhoto (Getty Images)

Note: This blog post discusses child predation and sexual abuse.

In September 2022, it was uncovered that Twitch, a popular streaming platform, was being exploited by child predators to track and groom young streamers. In response, Twitch announced changes including phone verification requirements and the deletion of accounts created by individuals under the age of 13.

However, a recent report reveals that these issues persist. Predators are now reportedly using the Twitch “clips” feature to record and share explicit videos of minors.

Abuse of Twitch Clips Feature

Twitch clips are 20-second snippets of a livestream that any viewer can capture and share on social media. This feature, launched in 2016, has unfortunately become a tool for child predators to proliferate the sexualization of minors online.

A study conducted by Bloomberg and The Canadian Centre for Child Protection analyzed nearly 1,100 clips. Shockingly, at least 83 of these short videos featured sexualized content of children. The analysis revealed that 34 clips primarily depicted young boys between the ages of 5 and 12 “showing genitalia to the camera”, reportedly after viewer encouragement. The remaining 49 videos had sexualized content of minors either exposing other body parts or falling victim to grooming.

Spread and Impact of Abusive Clips

What exacerbates the situation is the frequency with which these clips were viewed. The 34 videos were viewed 2,700 times, while the other 49 clips were watched some 7,300 times. The ease in creating and sharing these clips has amplified the problem.

According to Stephen Sauer, the director of The Canadian Centre for Child Protection, social media platforms can’t be trusted to regulate themselves anymore. “We’ve been on the sidelines watching the industry do voluntary regulation for 25 years now. We know it’s just not working,” Sauer commented. “We see far too many kids being exploited on these platforms. And we want to see government step in and say, ‘These are the safeguards you have to put in place.’”

Twitch's Response

In response to these concerns, Twitch outlined a detailed plan to combat child predation on the platform. The necessity of safeguarding the platform against such abuse has been emphasized.

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