“The mere presence of their marginalized bodies disrupts the norm”: The Twitch Hate Raids and Discursive Resistance from Black Streamers

 

As I read these two pieces by Kishonna Gray, I actually was watching Gray participate in a charity Twitch stream (twitch.tv/saffista). As one of four players, Gray played Phasmophobia, a game in which players work as a team of ghosthunters intent on discovering the identity of a ghost in a haunted house. Two of the four players were Black and all were female-appearing. In addition, they streamed with the tags “African American” and “LGBTQIA+” as identity markers, marking the stream with intersectionally-marginalized identities. 

This co-appearance of Black and LBGT+ identities makes me think back to one of the biggest backlashes to visible marginalized identity in digital spaces this year- the hate raids on Twitch. These raids were conducted by a person or group of people with numerous bot accounts. One person would follow a channel, typically the channel of a Black streamer (though Black streamers have noted they are still raided even with no camera on if they still use the “LGBTQIA+” tag), which would mark the channel for Hate Raids, in which the group, heavily supported by tens to hundreds of bots, would spam the channel with racist phrases, including the n-word. These raids got around Twitch’s automod functions by simply changing specific letters in the word. 

This spawned the Twitter #TwitchDoBetter conversation, in which marginalized streamers would post evidence of the overwhelming hate-speech they encountered when raided. The hashtag calls on Twitch to improve their moderation functions, including allowing IP bans and limiting the number of accounts that can be tied to one email address (something that allows hate raiders to generate hundreds of bot accounts, making these raids possible). Twitch has refused both of these requests but states they are updating their moderation features and plan to roll out updates at the end of the year. “Bottom line: Twitch says it’s working on stuff, but won’t say what, and won’t say when the stuff might roll out” (Hale 2021). In the meantime, streamers have also used #TwitchDoBetter to share resources to help mitigate these raids, including using third-party bots and apps designed to curtail abusive language and suspicious behavior. Twitch also encourages streamers to use automod, which flags potentially problematic chat comments for review, and employ more human moderators, who would be in charge of reviewing flagged comments and taking action during hate raids.

I am a Twitch streamer and moderator. I am not Black and do not typically use tags, nor do I stream on my own channel that regularly, so I have not been hate raided myself. However, I am friends with other moderators and streamers who have been targeted. I remember a friend being exhausted constantly during the height of these hate raids because they were banning hundreds of accounts and couldn’t keep up. Twitch asking streamers to employ more moderators is inadequate as this still forces people, the majority of which are marginalized for one or more of their identities, to experience the trauma of being exposed to hundreds of messages of hate speech at the same time. Twitch’s inadequacy in swiftly cracking down on the underlying conditions allowing hate raids to happen further victimizes marginalized streamers and forces streamers to take on the responsibility of Twitch’s work- the act of sharing resources and advice with each other to better protect against this behavior. Furthermore, one of the pieces of advice shared was to put chat into “emote only” whenever the channel was offline, as Twitch holds streamers responsible for what is posted in their chat at any time, streaming or not. This aspect of the ToS coupled with hate raids had already led to the ban of trans-hot tub streamer Anne Atomic (the first and only transgender hot tub streamer) earlier this summer. Ultimately, the new inclusion of tags for the platform have worked to help people find like-minded people (and community), but it has also further expanded the reach and severity of hate raids and mass-reporting (Grayson 2021).

So why have I focused on this example, beyond the obvious connection of Black streamers on Twitch? Well, first I turn to Gray’s piece “‘They’re just too urban’: Black gamers streaming on Twitch” in which she quotes Michel Foucault “Where there is power, there is resistance” and Lila Abu-Lughod “Where there is resistance, there is power.” She puts these two quotes in conversation with her assertion that “Black gamers specifically empower themselves by continuing to Twitch in the midst of so much racism and harassment by other gamers viewing and posting content while they stream” (Gray 2017, 355). In conjunction with a critique by a Black female streamer during the height of the reporting on the hate raids that the media only cares when Black people are being hurt, victimized, and does not want to share their triumphs, I want to share this example not as another example where Black streamers are attacked and victimized, but a complicated interchange in which victimization and empowerment are concurrent. In “Black Gamers’ Resistance” Gray illustrates how “by using Twitch, Mixer, YouTube, and other live-streaming technologies, these streamers, gamers, and their tools, as social technologies, have the ability to transcend mediated borders by creating a significant community that supports marginalized identities and sustains their cultures” (Gray 2020, 242). However, in the above example, it is reactions and critique of Twitch practices which allow hate raids to proliferate that ultimately led to increased unification off-platform, including “A Day Off Twitch,” a day in which streamers and viewers abstained from Twitch on a specific day in order to protest their lack of decisive and quick action against hate raids.

I am by no means saying that hate raids are positive as they ultimately were the catalyst leading to more conversations about the importance of inclusion and proper tools for safety online. Ultimately, Twitch absolutely needs to do better and it would be much better if the hate raids never occurred at all. However, what I want to highlight here is how reactions by Black streamers to the hate raids underscore a discursive strategy meant to engage Twitch into action for meaningful change. By critiquing and calling out Twitch to do better, rather than focusing on the hate raiders, Black streamers have moved the onus of responsibility from the individual to the digital platform (a move that Twitch highly resists but must address as critiques and discourse around their responsibility continues to increase). In effect, Black streamers have taken the hate raids, meant to harm them and remove them from the platform, and used them as their own weapon for structural change. In this way, I hope this example can be reframed from a devaluing of Black “humanity by showing excessive images of Black pain, suffering, and death” (Gray 2020, 244), in short, a focus only on Black trauma and victimization, to a focus on the discursive strategies used to “promote participatory engagement and alternative forms of community” (Gray 2020, 241) and major structural change. 

Gray argues that “Gamers of color, as Twitchers, are excluded from this area of discussion to decide what an appropriate contribution to the field is; it is decided for them by the default gamer. Their presence within Twitch exists counter to the hegemonic norm. Their bodies and mere existence runs counter to the conformist cultural practices operating not only within Twitch, but gaming culture in general” (Gray 2017, 356). While this intentional exclusion and refusal of acceptance is clear in the actions of the hate raiders, the more important element is Black responses to these raids, which act to resist this implicit exclusion with an implicit stance of inclusion. In the arguments put forth by Black streamers for #TwitchDoBetter, there is never an acknowledgment of difference as gamer, just how racists and bigots react to their marginalized identities. There is never an acknowledgment in their posts that they don’t belong, but, in fact, there is an implicit argument that they belong more than the bigots. Their calls for better protections against hate raids ultimately argues that they are part of the Twitch community and these haters who attack them don’t belong.

The stream I’ve been watching just ended. The streamers played a horror game, a common game to play near Halloween. The streamers were also raising money for St. Jude’s, a common recipient at this time of year for charity streams on both Youtube and Twitch. The tags used include “horror” and “charity” right alongside “African American” and “LGBTQIA+.” These tags that appear to denote difference for the hate raiders are used not to denote difference by the streamers, but inclusion and community. By having these identity tags appear right alongside tags for common behavior on Twitch, the streamers ultimately are not essentializing difference, but making an argument for the expression of these identities as quotidian practice to the platform, just as belonging as game descriptions and expressing the goals of the stream. 

The stream raised over $550 for St. Jude’s before ending and raiding (in a positive way) streamer PleasantlyTwstd. This streamer used the tags (in order): Black, Asexual, Queer, English, No Backseating, Strategy, Indie Game, Adventure Game, Card & Board Game. These tags are used for discovery and, though not the same tags, the similarities in identity tags denotes a connection between these two channels. By starting with tags denoting identity positions, the streamer is making an implicit argument that identity, not just belonging on the platform, is actually the most important element for community formation. This, rather than essentializing identity, further emphasizes that marginalized identities absolutely have a place on the platform and that people holding marginalized identities are interested in connecting with each other, and forming communities, in and through the platform. As Gray states, “Blackness is increasingly unavoidable” (Gray 2020, 244). People with marginalized identities, people with intersectional identities, are increasingly unavoidable. While there is resistance to the increased visibility of these populations, their visibility and push for better safeguarding practices ultimately benefits all. 

While this is what I was going to end on, an important incident in PleasantlyTwstd's channel just happened. The streamer was attempting to raid a channel and could not raid. One chatter posted “the way twitch is blocking us from love-raiding amongst all of the hate raids…” and another pointed out that the streamer they were intending to raid may not allow it in their settings. This both shows a new option from Twitch to safeguard channels against hate raids while also showing how Twitch’s efforts, though they might curtail hate raiding for that streamer, also diminish opportunities for “love-raiding” and opportunities to form relationships between channels (which disproportionately impacts marginalized streamers who need these protections, but not at the expense of communal opportunities). I do not know what the conclusion is here, other than the conflict continues and the push for better practices has caused Twitch, at this stage, to implement strategies that further disenfranchise their marginalized streamers. As it feels is always the case, we often draw false lines to end stories and our explanations for what was happening at any given time. These are false as the structures of racism and racist activities that are being fought against in this example are not isolated, but continued expressions of racism that have been occurring continuously throughout history. As Gray argues, “Being perpetually bound and conditioned to the legacies of racialized, sexualized, and gendered histories, Black bodies are subject to multiple forms of control and subordination that serve to remind them of ‘their place.’ In spite of these limits, Black participants have employed a variety of responses to continue existing and residing in digital spaces” (Gray 2020, 248). So, I suppose we’ll see what is next in the fight for more equitable digital platforms. 

Works Cited

Hale, James. “Twitch Says It’s Working On Features To Combat Hate Raids.” TubeFilter, September 3, 2021. https://www.tubefilter.com/2021/09/03/twitch-features-to-combat-hate-raids/ 

Gray, Kishonna L. "They’re just too urban”: Black gamers streaming on Twitch." Digital sociologies 1 (2017): 355-368.

Gray, Kishonna L. "19. Black Gamers’ Resistance." Race and Media. New York University Press, 2020. 241-251.

Grayson, Nathan. “Twitch Gives Trans, Black, And Disabled Streamers Tags, But Not Protection.” Kotaku, July 2, 2021. https://kotaku.com/twitch-gives-trans-black-and-disabled-streamers-tags-1847214410 

Grayson, Nathan. “Twitch hate raids are more than just a Twitch problem, and they’re only getting worse.” The Washington Post, August 25, 2021. https://www.washingtonpost.com/video-games/2021/08/25/twitch-hate-raids-streamers-discord-cybersecurity/