There is a heated discussion on Twitch about the new Twitch Safety Council. One member of the council has called for a more critical view on voice chat in online games. After a heated discussion, the prominent WoW streamer Asmongold feels discriminated against.
This is the Twitch Safety Council: On May 14, Twitch introduced its new “Safety Council.” The council consists of 7 members. According to Twitch, the members of the council have a “deep understanding of the unique challenges and perspectives of a creator.”
These 7 are now supposed to help shape the rules on Twitch.
Twitch Council member wants to limit voice chat
These statements are causing anger: One member of the new Twitch Council is Steaph “FerociuslySteph” Loehr. She originally comes from Heroes of the Storm but has also played a lot of Apex Legends over the last year. Steph is one of the first transgender streamers to become a Twitch partner.
The streamer has “only” 19,136 followers on the platform. However, since she became a Twitch council member, she has significantly gained relevance. Some of her clips now reach around 250,000 views. Her viewership numbers have increased tenfold.
She has initiated a discussion about voice chat in games. The reason is that it gives players an unfair advantage who use it. Those who do not use voice chat are at a disadvantage, believes the streamer. Therefore, there must be alternatives to voice chat.
Underlying this is the idea that members of minority groups in games (like women) often do not use voice chat because they have had bad experiences with being identified by their voice as a member of a minority and then being treated strangely. This happened to a LoL developer in Valorant, for example.
Twitch council member speaks about “white cis men”
In another clip, FerociuslySteph states: People have said that voice chat is not a problem. And these were mainly people whose voices sounded like “white cis men.” They said she should just turn off voice chat. That it is not a problem.
Especially in the highly divided society of the USA, her statements carry significant weight. This is evident from the outraged response from Asmongold and the extremely high view counts on these clips.
Asmongold is back on Twitch after a long break. The streamer had considerable success with WoW Classic, but that also drove him away from the platform.
These are people whose voices are not “marginalized.”
In another Twitch clip, the streamer says (via Twitch):
“A lot of players are in reality supporters of white supremacy. I’m sorry. That’s just how I feel.”
FerociuslySteph, in a Twitch stream
I thought this was America!
Asmongold is now upset about this: The well-known WoW streamer Asmongold feels discriminated against by these statements as a white man.
He says if this statement had been made about any other group, about Black people or transgender individuals, the speaker would have been banned from Twitch. But in this case, when it concerns white men, Twitch even supports the statement.
He finds it wrong.
Asmongold does not want negative things said about him based on his race. He says:
“I thought this was America and people are judged by what they do, not by how they look.”
The WoW streamer Asmongold
Streamer sees herself as an advocate for minorities, sparks controversy
What it’s all about: The statements of FerociuslySteph are currently causing quite a stir in the Twitch community. Because she was appointed to the Twitch Council, her statements are now getting much more attention than before. Her voice is now regarded as one that is supported and endorsed by Twitch.
The streamer has stated that she aims to use her newfound relevance to promote herself and her topics.
Especially in the highly divided society of the USA, her statements carry significant weight. This is evident from the outraged response from Asmongold and the extremely high view counts on these clips.
Asmongold is back on Twitch after a long break. The streamer had considerable success with WoW Classic, but that also drove him away from the platform.
