Summary
Twitchhas quietly banned the practice of promoting gambling withCounter-Strike: Global Offensiveskins and similar cosmetics. Many popular content creators likePokimane have been calling on Twitch to ban gambling streamsfor a while now.
The Amazon-owned streaming service started its gambling pushback back in September 2022, when it introduced a ban on broadcasts featuring “unlicensed” betting content. The company said that the move was motivated by a desire to crack down on gambling platforms that aren’t subject to U.S. laws or otherwise offer insufficient consumer protections. One of the sites encompassed by the ban was Stake, the owner of Twitch rival Kick. And while some content creators welcomed the move, others likeTrainwreck criticized Twitch over its gambling ban policies, positing that the new rules are inconsistent.
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In spite of these changes, the platform will continue to allow streams featuring traditional sports betting, poker, and fantasy leagues, as per the latest version of its Community Guidelines. Streams promoting betting with cosmetics such asCS:GOskins have long been a controversial topic amongTwitchaudiences and beyond. While some feel this sort of content should be carefully regulated and, at worst, hosted alongside disclaimers warning about the dangers of gambling addiction, others want it banned outright, opining that any such streams encourage gambling among minors.
While Kick still appears happy to host streamers unhappy with almost any of its rival’s policies, the fact that Twitch’s biggest competitor is owned by a betting company does not necessarily mean it’s placing gambling content front and center. On the contrary, a June 30 update to the service saw Kick significantly limit its users' exposure to gambling streams. The company explained that it wanted to hide such broadcasts from anyone who hasn’t expressed an explicit interest in this sort of content by directly following gambling streamers.
