Twitch has pledged $100,000 to charity, but the promise raises more questions about accountability than it answers.
Following the TwitchCon incident in which streamer Emiru was assaulted, Twitch has pledged to donate $100,000 to charity. But is the pledge an act of accountability or simply an attempt to avoid legal trouble?
Emiru Responds To Twitch’s $100,000 Promise Following The Incident
In a recent stream, Emiru discussed the aftermath of her interactions with Twitch following the incident at TwitchCon. The popular streamer was assaulted by an individual who attempted to kiss her, an event that sparked widespread outrage within the Twitch community.
Emiru explained that she had presented Twitch with a “list of things” she wanted the platform to address, and according to her, Twitch agreed to all of them. Among these requests, the company pledged to donate $100,000 to an unspecified charity focused on violence prevention.
While such a donation is undoubtedly a positive step toward supporting a good cause, it also comes across as a form of damage control on Twitch’s part, especially considering how poorly the company handled the situation in the first place.
Twitch’s Response Raises Questions About Accountability
Twitch’s handling of the situation was questionable, to say the least. Dan Clancy’s comment that streamers can easily moderate their chat but can’t do the same in real life left most people confused. What is she supposed to do — give him a timeout so he can think about what he just did? The security at TwitchCon is the sole responsibility of Twitch, no one else.
Apparently, Twitch liked the timeout idea, because the offender was given a devastating 30-day ban from the platform — for assault. This was later changed to indefinitely.
As if that wasn’t enough, Dan Clancy was reportedly celebrating at an influencer event on the same night the incident occurred. That understandably raised questions about accountability. How can the CEO of a company be partying while his community is outraged over a serious assault that happened under his platform’s watch?
Twitch didn’t even share the offender’s name with Emiru, preventing her from taking further legal action. Hopefully, he faces proper consequences for this unacceptable behavior, but under California law, an unconsensual attempt to kiss someone does not legally count as sexual assault, which is where the incident took place.
Looking at the entire situation, it becomes easier to understand why Twitch unconditionally agreed to all of Emiru’s demands. And yet, accountability still looks very different from this.
True Accountability Goes Beyond Money
Twitch’s $100,000 pledge might help a good cause, but it will not undo what happened or repair the platform’s broken trust with its creators. Accountability is not about money or public statements. It is about consistent action and real change. Whether Twitch truly understands that remains to be seen.
What do you think? Let us know in the comments!
