Gab Hernandez 
Twitch rules are always changing, and a change regarding the attire and presentation of avatars in VRChat has sparked controversy.
Family-friendly content has become the meta for many online creators. Platforms like YouTube and Twitch have updated their policies to ensure content from creators doesn’t break guidelines that could scare away advertisers. Ultimately, as privately owned platforms, the company has total control over what’s available on its service.
In particular, Twitch has a controversial history regarding what streamers can wear. Wearing revealing clothing during livestreams has resulted in many bans over the years. Many viewers and streamers criticized these rules for their vagueness, and the lack of consistency in enforcing them. While a Safety Advisory Council was formed to help guide the platform in these matters, at least one member of the council stated that Twitch ultimately never listened to them. Now, it appears these rules now extend to the virtual world.
Is VRChat banned on Twitch?
VRChat is not banned on Twitch, but VRChat streamers and their character models must now adhere to the same attire rules as any other streamer.
Twitch reportedly reportedly suspended several VRChat streamers for “inappropriate attire.” Many of these VRChat streamers took to social media and asked Twitch to clarify the reasons for their suspension. Twitch confirmed that VRChat streamers must now adhere to the platform’s attire guidelines.
In the past, Twitch stated that VRChat fell under the guidelines of “Nudity and Sexual Content in Embedded Media and Games.” These rules allowed for more revealing clothing, so long as the models were not explicitly pornographic. Now, VRChat streamers no longer have that luxury, and Twitch suspended VRChat streamers who broke the new rules without warning.
The lack of communication from Twitch sparked outrage and led to the company repealing the suspensions as an apology. Many content creators had more questions to ask Twitch, such as whether the rules only apply to VR streamers and if those on desktop VRChat circumvent the rules. Twitch has not answered these queries as of this writing.
Although many dislike the update, some took it as the opportunity to joke about how VRChat streamers can circumvent the new attire guidelines. Some suggested adding a kiddie pool to the feet of every single model so they could still wear revealing attire, referencing the “hot tub meta” that long dominated Twitch. Others suggested a spike in Beach and Pool maps to signify the streamers followed the attire policy. Twitch will likely give a more concrete update on the VRChat rules soon.
