An independent investigation into the popular online streaming platform Twitch has revealed several disturbing reports of child predator behavior. Approximately 280,000 children were targeted over a span of nearly two years.

Reader discretion is advised, as this article contains references to child abuse.

The independent investigation, conducted by Bloomberg, identified the mass targeting of children by child predators, who would coerce the young streamers into doing lewd acts on stream. According to the results, approximately 2,000 users were discovered to be specifically following younger streamers during the 22-month period of research.

Of those nearly 2,000 users, hundreds of them followed over 1,000 child streamers exclusively, which, according to the researchers, indicated “that many exist primarily to catalog, watch, and manipulate children.”

In an official statement to Bloomberg, Twitch said that “Preventing child harm is one of our most fundamental responsibilities as a society. We do not allow children under 13 to use Twitch, and preventing our service from being used for harm is one of our biggest priorities.”

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