O3190: Predator Paradise: Analyzing the Ease of Accessibility to Minors on Twitch

Background: Twitch.tv (“Twitch”) is a live online streaming platform where over 30 million people interact and view “creator-made” content. Live streamers must be older than 13 and have a valid email address/phone number to create an account. Concerningly, there are no age restrictions or identification requirements for viewers, potentially putting minors in danger of being watched, followed and groomed by predators. Followers get notified when streamers are live and viewers can donate money to streamers, which can make it easier for predators to manipulate, track, and encourage risky behaviors from minors. This study seeks to better understand the voyeuristic consumption possible via Twitch and its potential dangers to pediatric populations.

Methods: Trained coders entered Twitch.tv, searched popular video games (Fig. 1), and scrolled to view current live streams that appeared to be conducted by minors; only streamers who had their cameras on and showed their faces were included. No accounts were created for this study. The following data were collected: 1) video game; 2) age; 3) name; 4) follower count; 5) location; 6) streaming schedule; 7) social media (Fig. 2); 8) links to donate money; 9) topics discussed by streamers; 10) time it took to find minors under each game. Descriptive analysis was conducted in R.

Results: A total of 100 minor Twitch streamers with 1,755,452 followers were analyzed. Youth streamers provided their names (47%) and stated their location 50% of the time. 38% provided detailed schedules of when they would be live, and 64% linked and encouraged viewers to follow their other public social media. Viewers were able to donate money to 37% of streamers. Discussions contained personal details 11% of the time, notably including streamers trying on outfits for viewers and discussing identifiable locations they frequent. It took between 12 to 297 seconds (4.95 minutes) to find minors in each game category.

Conclusion: Twitch represents a clandestine, threatening digital environment where minors are interacting with adult strangers without parental supervision. The nature of live streaming makes it particularly dangerous, as there is no way to take back information that has been revealed or regulate content or viewers. Young users clearly feel a false sense of safety on the platform; a significant proportion were willing to reveal personal information despite having no knowledge of who might be listening. The donation system provides a menacing avenue for manipulation and continued exploitation of minors. Our findings reveal the need for stricter age limitations for streamers and more stringent identity verification of audience members on Twitch. Parents and pediatricians should be aware of the dangers presented by Twitch and other live streaming platforms and counsel children on best practices for internet safety.