Twitch expands ban on gambling livestreams

Amazon-owned Twitch has said it is expanding its ban on livestreams of gambling content on the platform.

The company said it will now prohibit streams of online casinos Blaze and Gamdom, adding to the four sites it banned last October when its new gambling policy went into effect.

Twitch announced the restrictions after controversy broke out on the platform last year involving a streamer accused of scamming users and other content creators out of thousands of pounds to fuel a gambling addiction.

That led some big-name streamers to protest against the platform’s relaxed policies on gambling streams.

As the pressure intensified, Twitch said it would prohibit websites that include slots, roulettes or dice games and are not “licensed either in the US or in other jurisdictions that provide sufficient consumer protection”.

Blaze and Gamdom are not available in the US but users can still gain access using virtual private networks that mask their locations.

In a post on Twitter, which was recently rebranded as X, the company said its goal is “to protect our community, address predatory behaviour, and make Twitch safer”.

Twitch said it saw gambling viewership drop by roughly 75% after it implemented the new policy last year, but noted it has also “observed some new trends” and is updating its policy to better protect users.

The company also prohibits sharing links or referral codes to sites that include slots, roulette, or dice games to address what it said were scams and “other harms stemming from questionable gambling sites”. It allows websites that focus on sports betting, fantasy sports and poker.