Scroll through the In Real Life (IRL) section of streaming site Twitch and you could be forgiven for thinking, now and then, that you have landed on a camgirl site.<\/p>\n
Scattered among the artists, cooks and professional eaters are a growing band of young women wearing revealing clothing while they game. Some go further and entertain fans by dancing or by doing a series of suggestive exercises, like squats, to tempt people to subscribe to their channel or to hand over Twitch’s micro-currency – bits.<\/p>\n
Dubbed “booby streamers” these young women have been a feature of Twitch for years but their numbers have grown significantly over the last few months, prompting a wave of complaints.<\/p>\n
On social media many parents have posted messages about what their younger children are seeing when they visit the site, expressing alarm at how much of a screen supposedly showing in-game action is focused on a woman’s body.<\/p>\n
In recent weeks, high-profile streamers have complained about Twitch’s tolerance of these women and for doing a “poor job” of policing the growing amount of sexual content on the site.<\/p>\n
The complaints have prompted a crackdown on women streamers who sell sexual services via their Twitch bio. Some have been suspended or banned for a few days and been made to purge links to places such as Patreon where explicit pictures and shows could be bought.<\/p>\n
Some say this is not enough. The “overtly sexual” behaviour on display breaks rules governing what Twitch has said is acceptable.<\/p>\n
“Given the way that the rules are worded, these streamers should not be on the site,” Steven Bonnell aka Destiny told the BBC.<\/p>\n
Grey area<\/strong><\/p>\n Mr Bonnell is one of a small number of streamers with large, dedicated audiences that have quizzed Twitch about why it is not enforcing the letters of its laws – specifically its community guidelines.<\/p>\n These guidelines govern what is permissible on Twitch and they explicitly prohibit “nudity and conduct involving overtly sexual behaviour and\/or attire” and the selling of “sexual services”.<\/p>\n “It’s pretty clear that there are some streamers that step over the line,” said Mr Bonnell, “they wear provocative clothing and act provocatively.”<\/p>\n Originally, said Mr Bonnell, the IRL section was for streamers who were recording events, such as attending a convention, that did not involve them playing a video game.<\/p>\n “IRL is taking on a culture of its own,” he said. “It’s become much more sexualised.”<\/p>\n –<\/p>\n Source: BBC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Scroll through the In Real Life (IRL) section of streaming site Twitch and you could be forgiven for thinking, now and then, that you have landed on a camgirl site. Scattered among the artists, cooks and professional eaters are a growing band of young women wearing revealing clothing while they game. Some go further and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":381543,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[106],"tags":[15306],"yoast_head":"\n