What Is Twitch? A Twitch App Review for Parents

Harmful Content 😲

Apart from the violent video games that streamers may play on Twitch (of which there are many), the primary danger to kids is inappropriate content. Profanity, sexual content, derogatory terms, and much more are possible in both the on-screen text chat as well as verbally by the streamer. Technically, these kinds of content are against Twitch’s community guidelines, but the platform itself states in its community guidelines that “not all abuse can be prevented.” 

Other potential hazards include dare enticements (remember the Tide Pod challenge?),  donation scams (where sketchy broadcasters trick people into sending them money), and bullying (it can happen anywhere kids gather online).

As of December 2023, the guidelines for what’s considered sexually explicit have been modified — there are now more ways for some explicit content to be allowed on the site, as long as they’re properly labeled.

Predation 🚨

On Twitch, you can send a direct message (also known as a “whisper”) to anyone you meet in a chatroom. As with any app with a chat function, predation is always a danger. Once users begin messaging on Twitch, the conversation can be easily taken to another platform, like text, Snapchat, or similar apps.

Privacy 🔒

Twitch gives you a fair amount of control over your online presence. As always, we recommend not using real-life photos for profile pics and avoiding personally identifiable information in user names or bios (things like birth year, full name, or school mascot). You can also manage who can see you’re online as well as what activity is shared.

Parental Controls ✅

Twitch has built-in parental controls (though they’re not called that) located in settings. Here, you can do things like:

• Disable additional account creation
• Block users
• Disable whispers (direct messages) with strangers
• Block incoming gift subscriptions to channels you don’t follow
• Disable notifications

It’s important to remember that none of these changes are locked, which means that your child can go back in at any time and reverse them. For more information on Twitch parental controls, check out our Twitch tech guide. 

Bark also provides help for families with kids who have Twitch. We’re here to help you keep your kid safe by allowing you to:

• Block Twitch entirely, if needed.
• Manage when your child can use Twitch throughout the day.

So, should my kid download it?

Probably not until they’re 17— or you could watch it supervised with them if they’re younger. If you go this route, we recommend checking out the streamer beforehand to get an idea of how they behave online. 

Overall, the potential for exposure to explicit content and toxic interactions on Twitch is too high and doesn’t outweigh the benefits of watching video games, no matter how fun it may be. What is Twitch, after all, but millions of chatrooms?