Yesterday, streamer Emily 'Emiru' Shank was attacked by a fan at TwitchCon 2025, sparking controversy about security at the event. In response, Twitch CEO Dan Clancy sat down with Taylor Lorenz to clear the air, directly addressing the situation.
“The safety of our creators is a top priority,” Clancy said in a brief clip from the interview, which will be shared in full on Wednesday. “The challenge we face is a challenge in today's society. It's not limited to Twitch; it permeates our society. I think when you're livestreaming, in a lot of ways, you control your community and you can ban people. You can make it so there aren't people who don't want to engage with you and participate with you.”
We're taking a close look at everything that's out there.
“What happened yesterday, obviously, was something we care deeply about — protecting this environment. We're looking closely at everything that's going on there, and I care deeply about Amy. She's my friend, so I want to see how we can support her.”
Clancy also claimed that Twitch's trust and security tools are “industry leaders”, but that “challenges” will always present themselves. Given how easily Fan was able to get to Emiru, bypassing multiple security gates, many are incredulous at these claims.
“None of the TwitchCon staff came to ask what happened or if I was okay”
Some have taken his comments on society and his suggestion to “ban people” as shifting blame, pointing out that it's not a practical solution given how easy it is for viewers to create alt accounts and continue harassment. Not to mention that banning viewers does nothing to prevent them from appearing at individual events like TwitchCon.
Emiru also stressed that she “didn't feel cared for or safe” despite Clancy's claims of being a close friend, and that Twitch is working with streamers to prevent such situations.
“I don't know how he was allowed to make it to me in the first place,” she said of the fan. “There were at least three or four other TwitchCon security personnel who didn't respond and didn't let the guy go. […] My friend who was there joked about how they didn't see what happened when he told me Twitch security was behind the booth too.
“In Twitch's statement, they said the guy was immediately caught and taken into custody. I'm sorry but that's a blatant lie. He was allowed to walk away from my meet-and-greet, and I didn't hear he was caught until hours after he attacked me, and it seemed like it was because my manager pressured me, not because there was a big deal at Twitch.”
As it turns out, it was Emiru's own security that stopped the attack, the same security that was allegedly banned from a prior TwitchCon event after grabbing a stalker's hand and bringing it to the police.
Contrary to Clancy's claims of industry-leading security and taking the safety of creators seriously, Emiru urges others to “consider not attending in the future,” because they “didn't feel cared for or protected” by TwitchCon staff.
- installed
-
June 6, 2011
- Founders
-
Emmett Shear
- Number of users
-
2.78 Average Concurrent Users (2021)
