Twitch CEO Dan Clancy has broken down why moderators sometimes get bans wrong and how some cases are “highly subjective.”
Twitch, YouTube, Kick, and other streaming platforms are often hit with backlash when it comes to moderating content on their respective sites.
While each platform has specific guidelines that content creators must abide by while streaming, there have been distinct lines drawn when it comes to violence and sexual misconduct across the industry.
In recent years, bans on Twitch. in particular, have ranged from lasting less than a day to certain streamers being banned permanently on the platform. Despite a huge crackdown on inappropriate content on Twitch, moderators are always being challenged in this regard.
Twitch CEO breaks down why mods get bans wrong
While on stream on January 22, 2025, Twitch CEO Dan Clancy explained why the moderation team sometimes gets it “wrong” with banning content creators, explaining how in particular cases, “subjectivity” plays a big role in figuring out what is allowed on the platform and what isn’t.
“You have a lot of people who get it wrong,” the CEO admitted initially before then diving deeper into the complexities of how the moderation team on Twitch handles trickier bans and content that toes the line.
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During his explanation, Clancy used colors and the analogy between shades as a way to represent why “highly subjective things” are often where the platform is inconsistent when handing out bans.
“Let’s assume for a second purple is not allowed but violet is, [content creators] want to be as close to purple without being it…The difference between violet and purple is very small and especially when you start talking about sexual content and that sort of thing, it can be very subjective.”
The CEO then added, “You’re gonna have a lot of people who are going to call it purple and then you’re gonna have some purple stuff that the raters call violet because it is not clear.”
However, Clancy did further elaborate that while certain instances are contentious, “[in] other areas, it’s not highly subjective.”
