GamesIndustry.biz have given a voice to several former and current employees of Twitch, highlight the harassment, racism and sexism issues that have allegedly taken place within Twitch.
According to the report, the abuse of some employees has been — if not covered up — at least minimized and swept under the carpet by the firm.
A total of 16 employees painted a picture far from the open-minded corporate image of the company. These included unwanted massages, forced kisses, or a lack of action by management when one of the employees was abused by one of her peers. A former employee testifies:
“Twitch repeatedly swept accounts of harassment and abuse under the rug: sexual, verbal, physical abuse, and racism. And not just my own. It took place in the office. At events. In meetings and behind closed doors. It was rampant and unavoidable. We heard about it in the halls. We saw it at our desks. It was overt and part of the job."
While the company does not deny that slip-ups may have occurred, Twitch is now taking all the necessary steps to combat all forms of discrimination.
"Many of these allegations are years old, and we've taken numerous steps to better protect and support our employees and community, and will continue to invest time and resources in this area."
Yet, earlier this year, former Twitch product manager Olivia Grace wrote on Twitter that she fought to have a raccoon emote — used to harass black streamers — removed from the platform, something the company's CEO Emmett Shear would have refused.
Following an article on the subject published by Kotaku, Twitch sent a statement:
"It’s deeply disappointing to read accounts of toxicity from people who had negative experiences at and on Twitch. Clearly, some of the processes and policies we had in the past did not do enough to make our employees and community members feel safe and valued.
While we are not without fault or above criticism, this article does not adequately acknowledge all the ways in which our company has evolved and the numerous steps we’ve taken over the years to build a company that protects and supports our employees and community. We’ve invested heavily in our HR and safety teams, brought in new, diverse leadership and will continue to invest time and resources in this area.
We take any allegations of this nature extremely seriously, whether on our service or within our company, and work swiftly to investigate and address them as appropriate, bringing in third parties to ensure impartiality when needed. Any claims to the contrary simply misrepresent our culture and values."
Twitch has subsequently reported having strengthened the human resources and security teams, while stating that they take all allegations of this nature seriously in order to address them promptly.
Original content by Maxime "Biaggi" Ricoveri.
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