On March 27, Twitch announced a new guideline change that prohibits prolonged focus on “intimate body parts.” Although this appears to disallow popular content in the Pools, Hot Tubs, and Beaches category on Twitch, viewers remain confident streamers will find new ways to circumvent this rule.
The Pools, Hot Tubs, and Beaches category on Twitch has been an epicenter for controversy and unconventional streaming metas. After implied nudity on Twitch saw an outright ban, Twitch streamer Morgpie stretched the limits of Twitch’s rulings by using green screen to showcase gameplay on various parts of their body.
Twitch made the latest strike in the ToS arms race, announcing further restrictions on sexual content. In the statement, Twitch mandated that “content that focuses on intimate body parts for a prolonged period of time will not be allowed.” Although this seemingly cuts down the current meta, viewers have already theorized ways in which streamers can dance around this new rule.
“They will figure out something new anyway,” commenter Atmozfears wrote in an ensuing Reddit thread. “This will be a cat and mouse game for a long time.” Directly underneath this comment, user Zhukov-74 emphasized the subjective nature of the wording, noting what constitutes as “intimate body parts” and a “prolonged period of time” could be both be disputed. Commenters quickly worked up the idea of a rotating, multicamera hot tub set up which could potentially evade getting tagged by these new rules.
Other users remained pessimistic about a possible streamer response. User EnjoyerOfBeans suggested Twitch kept its verbiage purposefully subjective to cast a wider net and enforce the rule at-will. “This is subjective rule and as such there’s no way to exploit it like that,” the commenter wrote. “There will be an actual human reviewing the big channels and they can see the obvious.”
Although arguments raged on regarding how Twitch might enforce this rule, general sentiment agreed that streamers in the Hot Tub, Pools, and Beaches category will retaliate. “The game of whack-a-mole continues,” wrote u/Oreyon, “Little do they know, the ingenuity and resourcefulness of hot tub streamers cannot be stopped.”
The rule change officially takes effect on March 29, with Twitch moderators and viewers alike waiting with baited breath to see what unfolds next.
