Twitch added a dedicated "hot tub" category

Twitch has added a dedicated "pool, hot tub, and beach" section. The increase came after the Amazon-owned company cancelled the channels of several of its most popular creators without warning, who participated in what Twitch calls “context exceptions” for its nudity and dress policy. .

"We recently suspended advertising on some channels that were flagged by the majority of our advertiser base and failed to notify them," the company said in a blog post it shared on Friday afternoon. "Our creators rely on us, and we should have alerted affected streamers to this change before it happened — it was a mistake not to do so." The company added it's working with individual streamers to restore their ability to make money off of ads.

Hot tub streams feature streamers wearing swimwear while sitting in a hot tub — or, more often, an inflatable pool — while talking to their viewers and playing games. The format has become so popular in recent weeks that it's even been deconstructed at this point. As they most often feature women, sexism and harassment have followed, with some people feeling that those involved are somehow skirting Twitch's rules. Under its community guidelines, the company allows streamers to appear on camer

"Being found to be sexy by others is not against our rules, and Twitch will not take enforcement action against women, or anyone on our service, for their perceived attractiveness," the company said. "No one deserves to be harassed for the content they choose to stream, how they look, or who they are, and we will take action against anyone who perpetuates this kind of toxicity on our service."

From the perspective of Twitch users and advertisers, part of the problem is that the company categorizes these clips into the "just chat" category. The company also admitted that the lack of clarity in the way it wrote the terms of use contributed to this situation. In the next few months, Twitch plans to update its policy on sexually suggestive content. At the same time, it pointed out that the new part is not a permanent solution to the so-called "hot tub element". But what it does is make it easier for people to avoid (or look for) these streams and give brands more control over where their ads are displayed on the platform.