The Office of Communications (Ofcom) has released a report highlighting the content labelling accuracy for Twitch streams related to mature content, including gambling.
In June 2023, Twitch introduced new changes to its content classification guidelines for content creators; this meant the site would have to use content classification labels to inform viewers if the stream contained certain mature themes. Streamers face being penalised if they fail to accurately label their streams.
The report, called ‘An evaluation of the impact of Twitch’s content classification labelling,’ looks at the viewing behaviour with regards to the guideline introduction, as well as the labeling accuracy, with Ofcom asking a number of questions related to both before and after the new guidelines were brought in, to analyse the changes.
Ofcom’s evaluation looks at various mature themes, including gambling, and shows that before the changes were implemented only 65% of gambling streams were accurately labeled as mature.
After the changes came into effect, the regulator noted that in general there had been a decrease in the mislabeling of streams as mature and that labelling accuracy increased, while the report also underlines that the number of views of mature streams hadn’t changed that much.
With regards to gambling specifically, the report states: “Moreover, while we find an increasing trend in the labelling rate of gambling streams even before the CCL change, Figure 9 reveals a sharp jump following the 30-day grace period, highlighting the intervention’s role in further increasing labelling of such mature content.”
