A swath of Middle Eastern Twitch streamers are reporting that the platform has stopped paying subscriptions and bits for all streamers in the region.
Screenshots are being shared on social media revealing what little explanation we have for the sudden cessation of payments. According to several emails sent to Twitch Support, streamers in the Middle East are being told their accounts have been blocked "due to a discrepancy with certain tax information provided during the onboarding process." Precisely what the discrepancy is or how to fix it wasn't offered.
Streamers from throughout the Middle East are attempting to raise awareness of the issue through the #twitch_arab_streamers hashtag. Streamers are still able to broadcast, but all income through subscriptions and bits payouts are being blocked.
As noted by many streamers on social media, Twitch provides an invaluable source of income for the region. Twitch's move to stop payments to Middle Eastern streamers has come as a complete shock made all the more surprising by the lack of information Twitch has provided to solve the issue. Many streamers note that their tax information is correct, forcing some to consider breaking their affiliate contract.
Twitch has yet to respond to the outcry from Arab streamers. We’ll be sure to update this story once more info comes to light.
In other Twitch news, the platform has recently announced a new policy that bans certain words from being used in usernames. These words can include anything involved in terrorism, child exploitation, hateful words or slurs, impersonating someone else, references to violence or self-destructive behavior, names of drugs, sexual acts, genitals, and more.
If Twitch spots a username with a banned name, the platform will force you to change it. Repeat offenders might get hit with a platform suspension or even a ban. Twitch noted that users who continually create usernames that use banned words are far more likely to engage in hate raids, which is something that the platform is still struggling to get a handle on.