Twitch's New Branding Policy: No Marijuana Promotion, but Alcohol Is Allowed

Shane Fame Alexander
Twitch's New Branding Policy: No Marijuana Promotion, but Alcohol Is Allowed

Amazon. com-owned Twitch, the popular video game streaming service, has switched up its branding policy for its streamers and it doesn’t look pretty for potheads.

The new policy is now prohibiting the promotion of marijuana business and products. Originally, the company did re-think their stand but decided to maintain its ban on cannabis promotion. 

Twitch ahora permite usar nombres de usuario con referencias al cannabis

Twitch says no to pot but is allowing alcohol on the premises. 

According to Marijuana Moment,  the new rules say streamers cannot be compensated for promoting cannabis-related products such as vaping, delivery services, and CBD.

Surprisingly, Twitch takes a different approach to alcohol. They’re allowing streamers to form partnerships and receive compensation for promoting alcoholic beverages. The only requirement is that these products be labelled as having "mature content."

Twitch streamer has to shut down broadcast after fire nearly erupts from  stove - Dexerto

 

Twitch had previously clarified its rules to include cannabis, treating it similarly to alcohol and tobacco. Last year, the platform removed references to marijuana from its list of prohibited usernames.  


Popular Twitch and Youtube smoke queen, SilencedHippie wondered if she should “go through all of her commands and delete her discount codes.

 https://twitter.com/SilencedHippie/status/1667740533932929025


Another user, JimTanna, noticed the disparity between Twitch's cannabis and alcohol policies and stated that "everyone is confused" about the update, which he believes will harm users' ability to make a living on the platform


Elsewhere on the interweb…

Other technology companies have been revising cannabis policies as more states legalize it and the market grows. Twitter, for example, has nixed a feature that previously suggested users who searched the site for specific drug-related keywords, such as "marijuana," consider entering drug treatment. For "alcohol" searches, no such suggestion appeared. Users were given the option to track medications and learn about possible drug interactions with other substances, including marijuana, in an update to Apple's iPhone software that was implemented in 2022.

Meta was accused of shadowbanning state-legal cannabis businesses, deleting their Instagram accounts

Exclusive: Facebook will not allow marijuana sales on its platform -  MarketWatch

The big-wigs at state-legal cannabis businesses and advocacy groups, such as the California Bureau of Cannabis Control have called out Facebook for "shadow banning,"  If you’re not in the know, to be shadowbanned means that their profile pages do not appear in a standard search. There were reports in 2018 that Meta was loosening its restrictive cannabis policies, but it's unclear what steps were taken to accomplish this.

The same issue exists on Meta-owned Instagram. Users have reported their accounts were deleted by the app due to marijuana-related content, even if they were not advertising the sale or promoting the use of cannabis.

 

Apple lifted its ban on cannabis companies doing business on its App Store in 2021.

Apple Lifts Ban on Cannabis Apps in App Store - Ganjapreneur

Last year, New York marijuana regulators asked the social media app TikTok to lift its ban on advertising containing the word "cannabis" in order to promote public education about the state's legalization efforts.


Apple's policy prohibiting cannabis companies from doing business on its App Store was lifted in 2021. Because of this,  Eaze, a marijuana delivery service, was able to have its customers shop and pay for products on its iPhone app for the first time.

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