Streaming site Twitch accused of unchecked antisemitism, anti-Israel bias

The live-streaming service Twitch has come under fire in recent days as allegations of allowing antisemitic content and intentionally blocking Israel-based users have piled up.

Members of the streaming community in recent weeks have accused the platform of allowing anti-Israel hate speech, blocking users in Israel and lifting bans on antisemitic streamers, while the annual TwitchCon conference last month reportedly included a panel during which popular livestreamers ranked others on a scale of Arab to Jew.

Multiple reports, including by the Ynet news site on Sunday, said that users in Israel were not able to register for the platform using either email or phone, while popular livestreamer Destiny posted on X an email purportedly from Twitch telling an Israeli user that they were “not eligible” to make an account.

The platform on Monday addressed some of the allegations for the first time, claiming that it had temporarily limited signups in the region and said it had fixed some issues, but failed to address many of the accusations.

In a statement on X, Twitch acknowledged having “temporarily disabled sign ups with email verification in Israel and Palestine” in order to prevent the posting of “graphic material” related to the October 7 Hamas attack.

However, the streaming platform claimed that it had not blocked anybody from signing up via phone number, despite the claims from users in Israel that they were not able to do so. Twitch also stated that while it “inadvertently” did not re-enable email verification after its initial block, it has since “fixed the issue.”

The statement also vaguely addressed the other allegations, saying that it had “heard concerns about whether our Community Guidelines apply to all content on our service. We continue to enforce our rules as consistently as possible, and are actively reviewing content and taking enforcement action where needed.”

Streamer Ethan Klein accused Twitch CEO Dan Clancy of antisemitism on Friday after the company re-platformed streamers Sneako and Fresh & Fit, whom Klein described as “maybe the two most openly antisemitic creators online.”

Both users have reportedly trafficked in Holocaust denial and promoted conspiracy theories about Jews. Since his return, Sneako has lauded Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar as “inspiring” and a “martyr.”

Meanwhile, the Spilled news site reported Saturday that a panel discussion at the official TwitchCon event last month included a board on which other streamers were rated by categories ranging from “Arab” to “Loves Sabra,” derogatorily analogizing Israeli-Jews to an Israeli hummus brand.

The statement from Twitch did not address any concerns about the conference nor did it directly mention the decision to lift the bans on certain users who had previously been barred from the platform.