"We said in our blog post we were looking for the council to advise on a variety of things, from advising on new policies to promoting healthy streaming habits, but we could have been clearer about tasks the council will not be involved with. Council members will not make moderation decisions, nor will they have access to any details on specific moderation cases. They are not Twitch employees, and they do not speak on Twitch's behalf. While we value their opinions and their right to share them, they are independent actors who will have opinions that aren't shared either by Twitch, Twitch employees, or even by other members of the council. Nevertheless, we believe that having diverse viewpoints will make the council and its recommendations stronger, and ultimately better for our community."
So, literally an advisory board. I'm glad they got such a board of people with variety of viewpoints and perspectives. Diversity helps with better and more inclusive workplaces and communities. Maybe some got their feathers ruffled misinterpreting it as a moderation council.
On another point, you have to be wildly ignorant or privileged if you believe Twitch chat is nice to non-white, non-cis, non-heterosexual folks, and isn't bigoted most of the time. Voice chat is for the majority not inclusive of female or trans voices. Most gamers have bigoted views, just like most white people are racist even on unconscious and unintentional levels because what privilege and social conditioning (which for many years has been conservative) does to us. Silent gamers don't help, and they become part of the majority by not voicong their displeasure. This shouldn't be controversial. It's just a tragic fact and acknowledging it is one of the steps to improving the status quo. Rather than get defensive and deny to maintain the status quo aka be a SQW.
