Popular streamers at sites like Twitch are used to abuse from their viewers: insults, pranks, run-of-the-mill trolling. Some, however, go to far more malicious extremes. Hackers have occasionally targeted popular Twitch channels, or popular streamer’s online game accounts. Other have leaked personal, identifying information about popular personalities online, leaving them open to all types of harassment. But the latest harassment craze facing streamers is the most dangerous and potentially deadly yet: \u201cswatting.\u201d<\/p>
In swatting, someone anonymously phones your address in to the police. The typical line they use that there’s an ongoing hostage situation in your home. They might add that several people are being held at gunpoint, or they might skip that scenario entirely and just go with a generic bomb threat. If the call is convincing enough, police will often dispatch a Special Weapons and Tactics team (SWAT), armed to the teeth with assault rifles and body armor, to your home\u2014hence the term swatting.<\/p>
Although prank calls have been around pretty much since Alexander Graham Bell invented the phone, swatting turns a harmless prank into a wasteful and potentially life-threatening hoax. Swatting itself has been around for a while, but live video platforms such as Twitch are adding a new, voyeuristic appeal, allowing the perpetrators to watch the whole situation unfold live.<\/p>
