Twitch CEO Dan Clancy has admitted the company “failed” by both allowing streamer Emiru to be physically assaulted at TwitchCon last weekend, and “in our response following”.
Last weekend, streamer Emiru was assaulted at a TwitchCon Meet and Greet after a man crossed multiple barriers to grab her face and try to kiss her. A viral video that caught the incident suggests TwitchCon’s own staff did not prevent the incident from occurring, nor “came to ask what happened or if I was okay” in the immediate aftermath.
In Twitch’s initial response, it said “the safety and security of all those attending TwitchCon is our highest priority”, and called the behaviour of the man who pushed past the queue to grab Emiru and kiss her “completely unacceptable and deeply upsetting”. It then revealed it had “blocked this individual from returning to the TwitchCon premises, and they are banned indefinitely from Twitch, both online and in-person events”.
Emiru disputed this version of events, however, saying, “Twitch’s statement they said that the guy was immediately caught and detained [was] a blatant lie”.
“He was allowed to walk away from my Meet and Greet, and I didn’t hear he was caught until hours after he attacked me, and it felt like this only happened because of my manager pressing for it, not because TwitchCon staff present thought it was a big deal,” she added, later confirming she was pressing charges.
In the days following the incident, Clancy was criticised for a video interview in which he said, “the challenge we face is a challenge in today’s society. It’s not limited to Twitch, it extends throughout our society.
“Now, what happened yesterday, obviously, was something that we care deeply about securing this environment. We’re looking very closely at everything that happened there, and I care deeply about Emi,” he added. “She’s a friend of mine, and so I want to see how we can support her. This is just something we have to keep working on. I think everyone identifies our tools in terms of trust and safety as the leaders in the industry about helping creators, but that means there’s always more work to be done, because that’s the world we live in now.”
Now, in a fresh statement, Clancy said he “want[s] to be upfront and take accountability for the security incident that occurred during Emiru’s Meet and Greet”, saying, “it shouldn’t have happened and we take that very seriously”.
“We failed, both in allowing it to occur, and in our response following. We mismanaged our communications about the incident, and that includes the comments I made. I apologise to Emiru for all that took place.”
Looking ahead, Twitch is now investigating “everything” about how they run Meet and Greets, “from sign-ups to the layout to increased security controls”. This includes a review of its teams, production and venue staff, so it is “better equipped” for future events”.
“We’re also doing a comprehensive review of overall event safety and security, and will be making updates for future TwitchCons,” he added. “While we won’t be sharing all security updates for privacy and safety reasons, we will keep our community informed about changes that directly impact attendees.
“You put a lot of trust in us by attending TwitchCon, and we take our responsibility to keep you safe seriously,” the statement concludes. “We know that TwitchCon means a lot to a lot of people, and it means a lot to us. Be on the lookout for more updates, and thanks for being a part of Twitch.”
Clancy said the company has also “hard concerns about IRL” streaming, and though he didn’t expand on what those concerns were, added that the IRL category was now “a part of Twitch” and “TwitchCon [should ensure it] meets the needs of a variety of participants”. More will be revealed “soon”.
