Sweden’s biggest female streamers bear witness to lots of threats and hatred in a new documentary.
In After Five, Emma “Swebliss” Bliss talks about the harassment:
– Most are empty threats, but there will come a day when it is no longer an empty threat.
Death threats, harassment and threats of rape are part of everyday life on the streaming platform Twitch, according to some of Sweden’s biggest female streamers. It shows a new one SVT Edit documentary which depicts the crimes in the gaming world.
Emma “Swebliss” Bliss, who has been a streamer for 10 years, appears in the documentary and says that she receives between 50 and 60 harassments a day.
– There are a lot of sexual, coarse comments and dickpicks. They don’t like what you say and then they will threaten to kill you and say they are going to rape you, she says in Efter fem.
The harassment has become everyday for her.
– You try not to feel sorry for yourself too much. I usually joke and say it’s a work injury. But I haven’t stopped fighting.
The police stormed into the apartment
She says that she has had stalkers and that you become paranoid after a while.
– Most are empty threats, but there will come a day when it is no longer an empty threat.
At one point, someone hacked her phone and texted her neighbors saying she was in danger. They then contacted the police, who thought there was a hostage situation in her apartment.
– Then the task force entered my apartment, they thought I was in danger.
The goal was for the whole thing to be captured on a live stream, which didn’t happen.
So you try to stop this
Twitch emphasizes that hate and threats are against their terms of service and that they suspend users, but that’s not enough, according to Emma Bliss.
– The question is how long they suspend a user. They can create a new account a week later.
One thing that has changed to help streamers is that you can filter how much hate you see, but it’s sad that it’s even needed, she thinks. And Lillie Klefelt Ohlsson, founder of Female Legends, which works for inclusive gaming in E-sports and gaming, agrees:
– The responsibility is placed on the victim, the one who has to endure it.
Both urge parents to be more aware of what their children are doing online.
– I want to see more Fortnite moms: Adults who get involved in what their children are doing on the internet, says Emma Bliss.