Twitch explains how suspensions over conduct are handled after Ninja incident

https://www.polygon.com/2018/3/30/17176166/ninja-twitch-logic-stream-code-of-conduct

Twitch explains how suspensions over conduct are handled after Ninja incident

It’s a case-by-case basis

By Julia Alexander on March 30, 2018 11:15 am

 

Ninja/Twitch

The streaming community is under the magnifying glass once again after Tyler “Ninja” Blevins, arguably the biggest Fortnite streamer, dropped a racial slur during a Twitch stream.

Blevins later apologized on Twitter, saying he didn’t want to offend anyone and chalking it up to a giant misunderstanding. Unlike other streamers and YouTubers who have been called out for using racist language during a stream, Blevins wasn’t using it against a player or referring to anything specific in his Fortnite match.

Blevins was rapping along to “44 More,” a popular song by Logic, but even that proved to be an uneasy answer for people. “44 More” doesn’t include the word Blevins used. He explained, “I wasn’t even trying to say the word—I fumbled lyrics and got tongue tied in the worst possible way.”

Questions have now turned to what type of behavior can lead to a suspension or ban on Twitch, and whether Blevins will face action himself. Other popular streamers, like Steven “Destiny” Bonnell and WehSing “SingSing” Yuen, have faced retaliation over the use of the word. Then again, other streamers who have let the word slip, have it played in a song they’re playing on stream or even see it flashing by in their chat haven’t gotten suspended.

It can be confusing, and Twitch’s own community guidelines aren’t very helpful in discerning the correct answer. Asked for clarification, a Twitch representative told Polygon that this is the best way to understand when a streamer might face punishment for using of an offensive or derogatory term: “When reviewing reported content or activity, we will consider its intent and context.”

“WE WILL CONSIDER ITS INTENT AND CONTEXT”

The use of a racist or derogatory term falls under the hateful conduct and speech section of Twitch’s community guidelines — a subsection that was recently updated to ensure that community members understood Twitch was taking a more strict stance on hate speech and harassment. The company defines hateful conduct as “any content or activity that promotes, encourages, or facilitates discrimination, denigration, objectification, harassment, or violence based on the following characteristics,” and notes that using terminology that falls under any of the characteristics is strictly prohibited.

The first one listed is “race, ethnicity, or national origin.”

The guidelines also state, however, that Twitch’s team will “consider a number of factors to determine the intent and context of any reported hateful conduct” to ensure that suspensions and bans are properly handled. This allows for certain terms to be used on stream in certain context without streamers facing a suspension.

The best example of this is lyrics. If someone is rapping along to a song and drops the term, Twitch’s moderation team will take that into context. That doesn’t necessarily rule out the chances of Twitch taking action, though, and people are asking for Twitch to make the rules clearer. Essentially, Twitch’s code of conduct boils down to a case-by-case basis. The company doesn’t have a one-size-fits-all rule for holding streamers accountable for the language they use on their streams.

Blevins acknowledged in his apology on Twitter that using the word, even in music, is wrong. He asked his fans to forgive him, and promised to do better.

“The best way I can explain it is that I promise that I understand how much pain that word causes, even if it gets used a lot in music and elsewhere,” Blevins said. “It’s a word historically used to divide people, and I’m about bringing people together.”

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COMMENTS

If he’s "accidentally" blurting out THAT word when he screws up, that says something larger about the way he thinks, imo. I screw up CONSTANTLY and have never once blurted out that word. So that’s really an awful excuse.

I’m not saying he should be banned or anything, but he’s probably got some issues.

Also, for someone who’s supposedly raking in hundreds of thousands every month, can he decorate his room just a little bit?

By CrabbyCrabberson on 03.30.18 11:21am

I think there’s an important difference between getting killed in the game and saying it in frustration or calling someone that, and what he did which is say it while (trying) to rap.

There’s a clear difference in intent, even if it’s not a good idea in either case. I really don’t think it speaks to how he thinks, given how he acts generally.

"Also, for someone who’s supposedly raking in hundreds of thousands every month, can he decorate his room just a little bit?"
This. Please. Add some flair, man.

By Hudelf on 03.30.18 11:27am

I think there’s an important difference between getting killed in the game and saying it in frustration or calling someone that, and what he did which is say it while (trying) to rap.

I would get behind that defense IF it was actually in the song he was rapping, but he added it to a song that didn’t have it in the first place.

even if it was in the song it’s not okay, but there’s some room for mistakes. adding it to a song where it doesn’t exist is inexcusable.

By nos.is.lame on 03.30.18 11:52am

Surely you understand how a lyrical mistake could be made here. It’s not like the genre is devoid of the word. Ok, it’s been brought to his attention and made clear some people aren’t cool with it. I really don’t think there’s cause to rake him over the coals for this.

By Hudelf on 03.30.18 11:57am

I absolutely agree that it was a mistake on his part and I’m sure he is genuine in his apology, but we’re in the time where these guys are role models to millions of children. letting him off with just a simple apology is sending a message to them as well.

It may not be fair to punish him, but we have to be clear in our messaging to all the people that see him as a good role model.

By nos.is.lame on 03.30.18 12:02pm

I don’t think he needs to be made the social pariah to make a point that the word isn’t a good one. PewDiePie said the word in actual anger, directed at a person, and he was rightfully taken to task over it. He had also done other egregious things in the past that pointed to him having a flawed belief system. That’s a case where it was clearly wrong, he absolutely should have been punished, and he was.

I don’t think any of that applies to Ninja. Malicious intent is extremely important when deciding the severity of consequence, and I just don’t see it here.

By Hudelf on 03.30.18 12:32pm

I don’t think any of that applies to Ninja. Malicious intent is extremely important when deciding the severity of consequence,

I absolutely agree, but just because someone else has done worse doesn’t mean he should get away free. I don’t think he should have everything taken away, but there should still be consequences. Maybe just a 1 or 2 week suspension just to show that it’s not okay.

If you kill someone on accident you still have consequences. Malicious intent isn’t necessary in doing something wrong.

By nos.is.lame on 03.30.18 12:39pm

"Malicious intent isn’t necessary in doing something wrong."
Totally. That means we’re just disagreeing on the severity of punishment. I personally think the fact that several articles came up and called him out made this clear enough for the circumstances.

If he does it again, take further action. I think suspensions in that case could be warranted. The guy has a crystal clear background from my knowledge. This was his first social slipup, I think a warning is an acceptable response.

By Hudelf on 03.30.18 12:44pm

I’m with nos.is.lame – if it were lyrics in the song it would be one thing, to add them to the song on your very own is something entirely different. That’s not a mistake you make unless it’s already ingrained in how you think. Doesn’t matter what genre of music it is.

I’m not saying he needs to be raked over any coals, though. But he should know that not everyone’s buying his excuse. And, really, trying to explain himself didn’t help matters. Just say you screwed up and won’t do it again.

By CrabbyCrabberson on 03.30.18 12:13pm

Yeah, in my eyes the whole "it was a misunderstanding" excuse hurt him more than saying the word itself. Admit you fucked up and accept the backlash. Don’t try to explain it away.

By nos.is.lame on 03.30.18 12:59pm

If it’s in a song it’s 100% okay. No question there. Don’t add words you don’t want said to something people will obviously sing along to. This is not one of those cases, this was just stupid and he should face some consequence.

By HDC102 on 03.30.18 3:56pm

Ninja uses stereotypical epithets all the time. When he plays "Duos" with KingRichard, he calls him "Boy" a lot. KingRichard is a black man. Ninja does not call any other teammates "Boy". Racist? idk. Brain patterns are learned from the environments we grow up in.

WW2 and Vietnam War soldiers were taught "gook", "chinq", "kraut", "jerry" to create rage and survival techniques to kill and stay alive. Word and thought association. Were they racist soldiers? Most of them were not.

Ninja plays with accents from all over the world. Racist? No.

Everything is open to comedy. Ninja just flows. He is not hateful. He is just reacting to electrochemical processes on the fly. He expresses all emotions, often times diva-esque, however, he is not hateful.

"N-word" is just an electrical signal the mouth makes. Context determines the intention. Life is 90% intention & 10% technique.

Ninja is a performer and his intention is to play video games, make money, have a laugh and provide for his family. Create joy. Anyone that sees his stream knows this.

Humans have a tendency to overthink it. Twitch is just covering its butt.

By dfisch on 03.31.18 12:44am

It’s okay guys, his best friend is black.

By oncewasblind17 on 03.30.18 11:34am

Seriously though, I can’t bring myself to be offended over this. I can only assume his affiliation with Drake spurred an interest in rapping for him. So he attempts to do so on stream, and for the briefest instant, forgot that this one word is off limits.

By oncewasblind17 on 03.30.18 11:40am

I have an interest in rap too. I’ve been listening to rap and rapping along with it since I was in middle school. not once have I ever "fumbled" or forgot that a racial slur is off limits.

That’s not an excuse. not even close.

By nos.is.lame on 03.30.18 11:44am

Christian rap doesn’t count.

By aloe on 03.30.18 11:45am

wow. aren’t you edgy and clever

By nos.is.lame on 03.30.18 11:47am

Saw a cheap shot, took it. Sorry.

I respect what you’re saying, but I’m not that fussed by this one. It’s certainly a ways removed from that pewdiepie dipshit who got killed in some game and straight up shouted it at his opponent. That’s racism on the brain, this is a slip of the tongue.

By aloe on 03.30.18 11:55am

It’s not ‘off limits’. Some people just feel guilty about it. I think if the lyric is in the song, then you should be able to sing the entire lyric if you want to.

If you don’t support that lyric, then you probably shouldn’t be singing the song at all.

It bothers me when people are offended by one person singing a lyric but completely fine with another person singing the same lyric. It’s either offensive or it’s not.

By Lerkero on 03.30.18 12:05pm

the person saying it can make all the difference in the world.

Think of it this way: if you’re with a group of friends and you’re all making fun of each other you all laugh and have a great time. If you’re in a group without your friends and they all start making fun of you then suddenly you’re not having a great time.

a very basic comparison without centuries of intolerance, murder, and hate behind it.

By nos.is.lame on 03.30.18 12:09pm

So basically Twitch has the same rules as Youtube "We will ban or suspend anyone that does this…unless of course they’re currently brining in hundreds of thousands viewers"

By nos.is.lame on 03.30.18 11:45am

Hell to the yeah. I’m reminded of this interview with Dick Gregory.

https://youtu.be/giOMYeaeIkc

Its like; these are just entertainers, no one is going to remember them 50 years from now, and they are not the ones to fight for the right thing.

By NYCman100 on 03.30.18 11:57am

Why are people saying this is racism? Is there that fundamental of a misunderstanding? A white person saying the "n" word isn’t a racist situation unless the intent was to be malicious.

Racism is when you use racial epithets in a hateful manner, derogatorily. A racist is someone that sees another skin color as inferior without knowing anything else about that person.

What isn’t racist is a white person mistaking the next lyric in a rap song with the "n" word in a genre of music that is known for using that word pretty liberally. If you have an issue with this, you simply have an issue with the genre all together. As you wrote:

The company defines hateful conduct as "any content or activity that promotes, encourages, or facilitates discrimination, denigration, objectification, harassment, or violence based on the following characteristics," and notes that using terminology that falls under any of the characteristics is strictly prohibited.

You know the old saying: intent is 9/10ths of the law. If Ninja’s intent wasn’t out of hate, then there is nothing to see here. Considering he wasn’t talking directly to anyone – he was just singing a song – I’d say that it’s pretty likely that his intent wasn’t malicious.

By OmfgWtfZergd on 03.30.18 12:15pm

"Intent is 9/10ths of the law" is not the old saying, it’s "possession is 9/10ths of the law".

In fact, "ignorance is no excuse for breaking the law" is actually a saying… in other words, your intent matters VERY LITTLE to the law. If you get arrested wearing a jacket that someone else stuck their weed in, you’re still going to jail for that weed. Your "intent" to sell or smoke or ignore it doesn’t really matter, except a little bit when it comes to sentencing, sometimes.

By mrpapercuts on 03.30.18 1:44pm

"your intent matters VERY LITTLE to the law"

Speaking from the US at least, this is very much not the case. There’s a reason why we define multiple degrees of murder, manslaughter, reckless homicide, etc. They have different levels of intent, and therefore carry different punishments.

By Hudelf on 03.30.18 1:57pm

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