Twitch draws lines over ‘Zionist’ in Hateful Conduct policy update

Twitch updated its Hateful Conduct policy Thursday to include a new ban on the word “Zionist” — but only if it’s used “to attack or demean another individual or group of people on the basis of their background or religious belief.” The next line of the statement, which Twitch posted to its blog, states, “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 policy now reads, “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.” The policy contains one example of allowed speech — “Zionist settlers keep encroaching Palestinian borders” — and one example of prohibited speech — “Zionist [name of animal].”

Pro-Palestine protestors often use the phrase “Zionist pig” to refer to the police officers who staff protests and rallies. But this particular example in the new policy is likely in direct response to a letter Rep. Ritchie Torres, D-N.Y., sent to Twitch on Nov. 4, alleging that Twitch allows posts that contain antisemitic tropes and stereotypes on its platform. Torres sent the letter three days before winning reelection in New York — a campaign which received more than $500,000 in donations from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee in the 2024 election cycle. The Twitch Hateful Conduct policy change comes 11 days after Torres’ letter.

Twitch leadership has not made a formal statement on the genocide in Gaza, though it did apologize to users after Israeli and Gazan users were temporarily banned from creating new accounts after the attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Twitch has also banned creators for hate speech in the past, such as Asmongold’s two-week ban for offensive statements about Palestinians.

The concept of equating the descriptor “Zionist” with Jews or Israelis is also not new. The U.S. House of Representatives passed a measure on Dec. 6, 2023 that classified anti-Zionism as antisemitism and described the phrase “from the river to the sea” as a “rallying cry for the eradication of the State of Israel and the Jewish people.” Vox.com’s Zack Beauchamp defines Zionist as a person who believes “Judaism is a nationality as well as a religion.”

Twitch has not published its own definition of the word Zionist as of the time of writing. Twitch has also not responded to a request for comment.