Accounts spreading QAnon, anti-vax, and election fraud misinformation are still being hosted by Twitch, despite the platform’s alleged crackdown

She pushed COVID-19 conspiracy theories, notably writing them to display to viewers on a whiteboard the show called a “BS board” and wrongly claiming that a Centers for Disease Control coding error was “code for ‘we’ve just been lying to you so you’d get your kid vaccinated.’” 

• The Twitch-verified EvilFX is run by a far-right conspiracy theorist with over 15,800 followers who routinely streams anti-vax misinformation. A verification badge is significant because it indicates that the user is a member of Twitch’s “partner” program, with access to additional monetization and channel growing features. Twitch has described partners as users “who can act as role models to the community” and “the best broadcasters that the Twitch community has to offer.” The platform claims to evaluate partnership applications “on a case by case basis.” 

EvilFX claimed that mainstream media is being controlled by Pfizer, stating in one stream, “Of course they’re not going to say anything negative against the vaccines. Are you kidding me?” The account promoted ivermectin (a medication that right-wing media pushed as a COVID-19 cure, even though it has proved ineffective) on his livestream, eventually saying, “I don’t know what to fucking say other than don’t fucking listen to fucking mainstream news or your science communicators that are paid for and funded by fucking Soros and the globalists.” 

EvilFX has also expressed his displeasure with the Twitch misinformation policy on Twitter, writing, “Told you this was coming,” and even hosted a stream about the change. “So I’ve gotta be careful about my streams because, you know, misinformation. The channel may disappear at any second,” he lamented. 

Although Twitch’s announcement is a step in the right direction, these glaring holes in the platform’s content moderation serve as a reminder that there is still much work to be done. Twitch must enforce its own policies or risk enabling the proliferation of extremist ideologies and dangerous misinformation on the platform. Amazon, which owns Twitch, has also struggled with QAnon and anti-vax content on its main platform in the past, including selling a bestselling QAnon book.