E Z'Lay did not specify what police department she warned about the possibility she could be swatted. In October, Mia E Z’Lay, 30, said she told local police in Connecticut she was worried she could be swatted after trolls began posting her address and phone number in the chat of her stream. Others said their greatest frustration is with police officials, who seem, in their experience, to not understand swatting and the danger it presents. Some drag queens said they wished Twitch would do more to assist marginalized streamers who experience swatting, like providing resources and guidance for those who are likely to experience or have experienced swatting. The bad actors behind their swatting incidents have not been identified, nor have they faced any charges, they said. However, they still feel they have little recourse in getting justice. The tool gives channel moderators time to scan those watching for potential trolls, who they can then boot from the stream. Others also used Twitch's timed chat feature, which requires viewers to watch the stream for a certain duration before being able to chat. Those interviewed said they were able to utilize Twitch safety features, such as using the channel-banned term filters to weed out doxxing attempts. "Our work to improve safety is never-ending, and we will have more updates to share before the end of the year." No one to turn to "We are always gathering community feedback to inform this process, as well as expanding educational resources like our Safety Center and Creator Camp programming, to better ensure that Community members have access to vital information that keeps them safe," the Twitch spokesperson said. In a statement to NBC News, a Twitch spokesperson said "hate and harassment are unacceptable" on the platform and are "prohibited by our Community Guidelines." They noted that marginalized groups on Twitch have, in recent months, asked for help protecting themselves as they've become more frequent targets of bad actors and trolls. Many interviewed by NBC News said they feel the attacks are a manifestation of homophobia and transphobia. “I hope that through these amazing people persevering in the face of hate, we can inspire people to still be strong and be themselves in spite of anyone trying to stop us or shame us for being genuine and honest,” she said. 9 after a troll reported an erroneous crime to officials. Elix, a prominent Twitch streamer and drag queen, was swatted by police on Nov. Tyler Barriss, who called in the false report, was sentenced to 20 years in prison.ĭrag queen and Twitch streamer Deere, the founder of the Stream Queens, said she is saddened by the “continued threats, harassment and invasions of privacy” of both the Stream Queens and the larger community of marginalized groups on Twitch. In 2017, Andrew Finch, of Wichita, Kansas, was killed during a swatting raid. Since September, six members of the streaming group Stream Queens, a collective of drag queens who stream mostly horror video games on Twitch, have been swatted, according to members of the group. This is going to be a different experience for me,’” Elix said of her encounter with officers when she was swatted. Those interviewed for the story asked that NBC News only refer to them by their drag names out of fear that speaking out could incite further attacks. Those included phone-verified chats that allowed targeted creators to have more control over who can participate in their communities.īut drag queens who spoke with NBC News said they still feel unsafe. The string of incidents comes just months after creators held a boycott in early September, called “ A Day Off Twitch,” to raise awareness of the threats marginalized groups say they face on the platform, like doxxing, bot attacks and hate raids.Īs Twitch came under greater scrutiny, some new safety features were rolled out. Elix, 37, a full-time Twitch streamer and partner with nearly 58,000 followers on the platform, is the latest victim in a spate of swatting incidents involving drag queens who stream themselves playing video games.
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