At TwitchCon 2025, streamer and cosplayer Emiru was assaulted by a man during her meet-and-greet. He forced his way past multiple barriers and tried to kiss her. The only reason the situation didn’t get worse was because her personal bodyguard intervened. Twitch’s own security didn’t react.
When the company finally responded, it did what Twitch always does best. They issued a polished, emotionless statement claiming that safety is their “highest priority”. According to them, the man was immediately detained and banned.
According to a live stream Emiru did, that’s a lie. He walked away freely for hours after the assault. Twitch only acted after her manager demanded it. She also claimed that Amazon had to fly a top global executive out to San Diego to speak with her manager about safety.
The situation could have ended in tragedy, yet Twitch’s reaction was to move on as if nothing happened.
How Twitch Failed Its Own Creators
Twitch loves to brand its conventions as “community events.” In reality, TwitchCon is a marketing opportunity disguised as fan engagement. Creators are pressured to attend panels, meet fans, and bring visibility to the platform. Despite all of that, Twitch can’t be bothered to guarantee their safety.
Emiru revealed that she was forced to do a meet-and-greet in exchange for being allowed to host a live show. Twitch didn’t just fail to protect her. They put her in a situation where she could be harmed, then tried to downplay it when things went wrong.
There’s no excuse for what happened. Not when Twitch has years of experience running these events.
A CEO Who Doesn’t Get It
Twitch CEO Dan Clancy’s response only made things worse. During an interview with Taylor Lorenz, he implied Emiru was at fault for what happened to her.
“I do think that when you’re live streaming in many ways, since you control your community. And you can ban people. You can make it so that those people that you don’t want engaging with you and, and participating with you aren’t there. Okay, it’s very different, you know, when I use other short form content and people say all sorts of stuff. Well, I can’t stop that. But when I live stream, they basically don’t bother me.”
How is Emiru supposed to tell which one of her viewers is a future threat if they’re anonymous? Or a lurker, meaning Emiru wouldn’t be able to do anything because they’re not logged in. It’s an absurd claim that reveals how disconnected Twitch’s leadership is from the realities of its creators. You can’t “ban” someone from a convention floor. You can’t identify a potential threat in a crowd of strangers. And you shouldn’t hold streamers responsible for the failures of Twitch’s own security staff.
That kind of thinking doesn’t just show incompetence. It shows a lack of empathy. It’s easier to push the blame onto creators than admit TwitchCon’s safety protocols were a joke.
The Problem No One at Twitch Wants to Acknowledge
This isn’t just about one incident or one creator. It’s a pattern of neglect that’s been there for years. Twitch expects creators to act like public figures while refusing to treat them like professionals who deserve protection.
Streamers are always dealing with parasocial fans who live between the line between admiration and obsession. The least Twitch could do is provide trained security, clear emergency protocols, with staff who know how to react. Yet they chose not to because they don’t have to.
As long as creators keep showing up, Twitch gets what it wants. Content, publicity, money. The safety of the people generating that value is just an afterthought.
The Only Way Forward
If Twitch truly cared about its community, this wouldn’t have happened. If they cared about fixing it, their response wouldn’t have been damage control.
It’s painfully clear that Twitch doesn’t give a fuck about the streamers who use their platform or attend their events. They don’t feel the need to invest in extra security or safety measures despite knowing the dangers of parasocial fans. The way this was handled has been horrible.
All streamers, no matter how big or small they are, should refuse to attend future TwitchCons. They should boycott all official in-person Twitch events until something changes. Preferably, when Dan Clancy and other executives leave Twitch.
Until that day comes, creators should protect themselves by walking away.
