1UPdate: Report shows that Twitch has a child predator problem
Bloomberg reports that 1,976 suspicious accounts have targeted 276,016 children over two years.
For anyone with young kids, please be advised that while this is an important conversation to have, the subject matter may be difficult to hear.
In September, Bloomberg released a report on child predators using Twitch to track kids who livestream on the platform. It should be noted that no one under 13 years old is technically allowed to livestream on Twitch.
Bloomberg’s Cecilia D’Anastasio compiled two years worth of data analysis that shows a staggering number of child predators using Twitch to exploit kids. The report found that 1,976 accounts follow almost exclusively young people on the platform. These 1,976 accounts all have the same suspicious pattern of behavior cataloging accounts with young children, from asking inappropriate questions in their chat room to trying to coerce them to do inappropriate, sexually suggestive things for the camera. According to the report, 276,016 children have been targeted by these accounts.
In this segment, we discuss the importance of exercising caution online, what parents can do to protect their kids from being targeted and what Twitch should be doing to prevent further predatory behavior on their platform.
It’s been one month since we published our disturbing investigation revealing widespread child predation on Twitch. We identified thousands of accounts systematically finding and following apparent kids and pre-teens. Here’s what’s happened so far. (1/6) https://t.co/NbrTY1tppf
— Cecilia D’Anastasio (@cecianasta) October 27, 2022
Also in this segment:
- Netflix greenlights a fourth season of The Witcher, but with Liam Hemsworth replacing Henry Cavill as Geralt.
- NASCAR driver Ross Chastain uses a video game move to advance from fifth to tenth place during a race.
- The Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II remake has broken several records with its Oct. 28 launch.
- Activision Blizzard filed another motion with the NLRB to attempt to stop the Quality Assurance Testers at Blizzard Albany from unionizing.
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