In a livestreamed town-hall presentation yesterday, Twitch COO Sara Clemens said that the terms would be barred specifically when used in a context that “negatively refer[s] to another person’s sexual activity.” Twitch later clarified in a statement that “using these terms on their own wouldn’t lead to an enforcement [action], but we would take action if they were used repeatedly in a harassing manner.”

That largely mirrors Twitch’s existing policy against hateful slurs, which are generally barred but can be used “in an empowering way or as terms of endearment when such intent is clear.” Contextual enforcement of the policy on these words could be important, since many streamers self-identify as virgins or incels, for instance. The term simp (in re: “Someone who does way too much for a person they like”), meanwhile, is often used as generic trash talk rather than with any specific sexual connotation.

Clemens also pointed out that Twitch will be “proactively denying emotes that include the term ‘simp.’ And we remove them when reported, and we’ll keep doing that once the policy changes.” Emotes using those terms will be banned outright, the company said in a statement, “because they can be used across Twitch so we take more proactive measures to minimize the potential for harm.”

The question is “why?”

There used to be a time when we lived by the mantra that sticks and stones could break one’s bones but words would never hurt you. If someone called you a name, you shrugged it off, or if the need arose, you showed them that calling you these names had consequences.

Nowadays, the left pushes the idea that words are equal to violence and that calling someone a name could result in catastrophic results for the victim.

To me, this seems like a snake eating its own tail.

At this point, our society is attempting to convince the populace that words are indeed harmful. Older generations may be able to laugh off being called a name, but the younger generation currently being sold these ideas will really start to take them to heart. Being taught to be soft by people who have an agenda to push isn’t going to end well.

So the solution to this problem is to ban words, further reinforcing the idea that words are harmful and should be avoided at all costs.

I haven’t been told not to say words since I was a child.

It’s odd that we as grown adults are being finger-wagged at by people in states far away who themselves are so soft that they believe silencing their consumer base is the way to go. They’re pushing a softness on humanity that will only make it weak and fragile emotionally.

Looking at random videos floating around the internet about the reactions of emotionally fragile people, it’s clear that if this reaches critical mass then we’re going to have a societal breakdown as there will be few people left who are able to keep it together when they run into someone who is less than kind.

I worry that the nuts bolts on this thing are going to be tightened to the point where we all have to be a smiling mess of politically correct verbiage when out in public in order to function correctly. It would be that Dallas Bryce Howard episode of Black Mirror. If you haven’t seen it, go watch it. It’s eerie.

The truth is, the world is not a nice place. Humans make it better through sheer grit and determination and rest assured if we lose that grit, we’re toast. We need to toughen up the human race, not baby it into meltdowns when something doesn’t go their way.

If social media sites were smart, they’d allow the people to speak freely.