Twitch declares that “Zionist” is a slur - and a bannable offense (archive.ph - The Verge)

Twitch declares that “Zionist” is a slur, will issue bans for criticizing “individuals” based on their “religious beliefs or background” (genocide, settler colonialism)

https://archive.ph/qwX4r

Implications for leftist streamers like HasanAbi

potentially establishing precedents for mass removal and censorship of anti-genocide organizing and education on other major social media platforms

[News mega comment thread: https://hexbear.net/comment/5640369]

63 comments

The year 2027: "The word Nazi is now a slur, please don't call the Nazis Nazis."
- This literally happened in Sept 2023 in Canada after parliament applauded the waffen ss

Slurs are when you correctly identify someone by the name of the political ideology they adhere too.
- Which they also label themselves as.
  
  Well yes but only they can say it. You just dont understand the history of the word, and they don't need you goysplaining their genocidal ambitions to them.

So fuck twitch (and streaming in general tbh) but it seems like an easy workaround is just to call them genocide supporters or settler-colonizers.
- though that is a bummer explicitly is that these folks would proudly call themselves zionists, i would gamble that settler colonizer is too technical in a sense
- Fascist hitlerites
- 'Protocols of the elders of Zion larper'

in amerikkka settler colonists are a protected class
people will just start calling them genocidal apartheid-supporters instead
or maybe fascist isn't a slur yet
- I sent support a demand to delete my account and any historic personal data made it very clear why I want it gone

https://safety.twitch.tv/s/article/An-Update-to-How-We-Enforce-Our-Hateful-Conduct-Policy?language=en_US
using the term “Zionist” to attack or demean another individual or group of people on the basis of their background or religious belief is against our rules. We recognize that “Zionist” and “Zionism” also refer to a political movement. Using the term to refer to the political movement, whether in a supportive or critical way, does not violate our Hateful Conduct policy.
The way it's written suggests they intend to use it to go after antisemites who use zionist to mean jew, but the total opaqueness of twitch moderation and the context of the ADL trying to silence antizionists on twitch makes me think they're going to go after anyone who doesn't support the genocide in gaza, namely Hasan instead.
Actually they're certainly going to do both, but mostly the latter, given how integral the settler colonial project is to Israeli identity.
We prohibit the use of terms that may not be harmful or abusive in isolation, but can be used as a slur or to denigrate others in certain contexts. Similar to other terms that may be used as a proxy for a protected group, we treat “Zionists” as a proxy for Jews or Israelis if the word is used in a context to promote harm or violence, or when used to make dehumanizing comparisons or perpetuate antisemitic stereotypes. Comments regarding Zionism that are about the political movement, including criticisms, do not violate our Hateful Conduct Policy. Comments that call for violence against Zionism as a political movement, or comments that would otherwise violate our policies, are not allowed.
Prohibited example: Zionist [name of animal].
Allowed example: Zionist settlers keep encroaching Palestinian borders.
- I agree, it’s a recuperation of liberal anti hate-speech rhetoric to buttress collapsing public support for imperialism and genocide. Maddening open hypocrisy that they’re citing anti-semitism while platforming and algorithmically promoting Nazis and other fascists as the top twitch streamers (with the exception of Hassan).
- we treat “Zionists” as a proxy for Jews or Israelis
  They're using Judaism as a cover.
- So does this mean if I have a Pro-Israel account and I say "Zionist Dove" or some shit I can be banned as well?
  Is it allowed to say "Zionism, the ideology, should be punishable by death"
  
  So does this mean if I have a Pro-Israel account and I say “Zionist Dove” or some shit I can be banned as well?
  Probably not.
  Is it allowed to say “Zionism, the ideology, should be punishable by death”
  When twitch bans you, they tell you what rule you broke, but they don't tell you how it was broken or when. So in practice, you would never be able to say "I was banned for saying X which isn't against the rules".

I've seen so many people who self-identify as a Zionist (by just openly saying "I'm a Zionist") insist that Zionist is a slur. But then why are you proudly using it to describe yourself!?

A lot of Americans believe that Israel controls the US. Stuff like this feeds into that for the uninformed.
- Which drives up (actual) antisemitism. Which leads to (actual) pogroms. Which leads to American Jews (and others around the world) moving to Israel.
  Aka: all part of the Zionist plan.
  And for any liberal dinguses reading this going "heuh heuh wow look how racist the left is! Heuh heuh!" I'm speaking not about the Jewish Zionists concentrated in Israel, the US and EU. I'm talking about the majority of Zionists... evangelical Christians. Rabid racists who support actions like this from the US state and other Western governments in hopes that it does exactly what I wrote above. They want all the Jews in America to go live in Israel until the rapture happens and they're all sent to Hell or whatever specific fanfic they choose to believe. It serves their goal of making America more of a WASP ethnostate, emptying it of non-Christians that they hate, and feeds their psychotic religious fervor.
  It's actually incredible how many specific things that you can point at that make America suck have been upheld by or caused by evangelicals
  
  There's a reason England sent them all here
  
  Yeah, before theremoved riots I always used to say Christian Zionists are worse.
- Its literally just a 'protocols of the elders of Zion' larp group.
  Proposed new identifier: protocols larper
- doesn't israel have a lot of sway over the us military and its propaganda machine?
  
  Israel is an arm of the US military. It only exists because of the US military, and it continues to exist only as long as it carries out the will of the US military.
  
  it's like a mass line but cringe. the party of american capital is still in control
  
  Other way around.

Can't even stream reggae music anymore. Twitch is babylon.

- Anyway, let's talk about how TOTALITARIAN it is that in China you can't just say the most fucked up shit imaginable on the internet free of consequence.

Better to call them what they are Zionazis. Zionsim is not a religion. It is a racist ethno-supremacy fascistic ideology. It uses the mask of a religion as Hitler did with the Swastika to shield it. People should rebel. The entity is lashing out in desperation.

Has the ban hammer already hit Hasan? He's normally live by now.
- he streamed today just a short one since he's streaming basketball on someone elses account tn, I thought the same thing lol
  he talked about it and basically said it sucks and shat on the bad faith of the people and orgs pushing it, but said he'd abide by it and people in his chat using zionist as an insult were probably going to be logged and banned later by twitch
- no, he's just out of town for the weekend
  
  That means we're about to get 9/11 part deux
  Every time Hasan takes his shitty little vacations something crazy happened
  He was live for the Trump shooting
  Coincidence? Who can say
- He's in Austin for OTK Gameday. He will probably either be back on in a bit or be on another OTK members stream.

it all depends on the implementation tbh. At best this'll be tone policing of antizionists that would never be applied to islamophobes, but at worst it could be as you say, justification for mass censorship of anti-zionist content
I don't think it'll just stop at censoring people using "zionist pigs" as an insult (which isn't antisemitic to begin with ofc), it'll probably go further because the people that cajoled twitch into making this change in the first place will keep pushing those same buttons (threatening advertisers with smear campaigns) again and again, but there must be limits to how far they can be pushed
- Fuck twitch; get your friends off twitch
  And they're owned by amazon, so steal from a whole foods.

Fucking freaks dude, this kind of shit has me feeling like something big is going to give sooner rather than later.

death to america, death to the zionist entity, death to kkkrackadom

Wonder if Twitch admin are a bunch of zionists.
- No! A vc funded tech company owned by one of the mega corporations that uses its recommendation algorithm to turn children into Nazis might have genocidal Nazis in leadership?
  I call bullshit; couldn't be true.

This is particularly absurd when Zionists themselves proudly call themselves that and have written almost a century of political and cultural theory on the subject.
It would be like banning the term neoliberal as a slur.
- Back the FUCK up from the lathe fam
  
  Never. Do your worst.

I gotta say this latest batch of weird internet gamer gate hitlerites that are targeting Hasan are particularly disconcerting to me

(Joke) Another day, another banger for twitch. They got rid of the wretched slur, Crcker, and now. the got rid of Zinist Thank you (twitch CEO), you make us all greatful.