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Popular gaming platform Twitch has introduced new rules on the word “Zionist” following accusations of anti-Semitism.

The change comes less than two weeks after a New York congressman accused Amazon’s platform of harboring anti-Semitic creators on the video game streaming service.

Zionism, broadly interpreted, refers to the nationalist movement to establish and support a Jewish homeland, a movement that in its modern form began in 19th century Europe and today is most closely associated with the State of Israel .

Twitch, which receives an estimated 105 million monthly visitors, said in a blog post that it would allow users to say the term “Zionist” when actually speaking or expressing opinions about the movement or its supporters, but not as part of a threat or identity. based attack.

“We treat ‘Zionists’ as a proxy for Jews or Israelis when the word is used in a context to promote harm or violence, or when it is used to make dehumanizing comparisons or perpetuate anti-Semitic stereotypes,” the streamer wrote .

It added that the hypothetical statement “Zionist settlers continue to invade Palestinian borders” would be allowed, but a comment referring to someone as a “Zionist (name of animal)” would violate policy.

Rep. New York Democrat Ritchie Torres, known for his staunchly pro-Israel views, sent a letter to Twitch on October 29, accusing the streamer of being a “systematically anti-Semitic social media platform,” citing comments by Hasan that he considered anti-Semitic. Piker, a popular political commentator on Twitch with pro-Palestinian views.

Piker said in response to Torres’ claims that he has always been against anti-Semitism.

“They’re just trying to take down Twitch in its entirety for the crime of not punishing me,” he told NBC News, adding: “You have to cut things about complex geopolitical situations into 15-second increments to do that.” are: ‘Look, he means the exact opposite of what he says. ”

The policy change at Twitch comes as a variety of institutions, both private and public, grapple with how to handle speech issues amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, which has caused a spike in both anti-Semitism and Islamophobia around the world .

In June, the volunteers who make content decisions about Wikipedia no longer considered the Anti-Defamation League, a long-standing American civil rights organization and monitor of extremism, “generally reliable” as a source of information on anti-Semitism and the Israeli-Palestinian crisis. This determination came in part because the organization views anti-Zionism as inherently anti-Semitic.

In July, Meta, Facebook’s parent company, announced a policy to remove posts containing the word “Zionist” if they are associated with other anti-Semitic tropes.

“We found that existing policy guidelines do not adequately address the ways in which people use the term ‘Zionist’ online and offline,” Meta said in a blog post.

“Moving forward, we will remove content that attacks ‘Zionists’ if it is not explicitly about the political movement, but instead uses anti-Semitic stereotypes, or threatens other forms of harm through intimidation or violence directed against Jews or Israelis under the guise of attacking Zionists. .”

Human rights activists such as Human Rights Watch have accused Meta of “systematic online censorship” against posts that legitimately criticize Israel and its behavior during the conflict with Hamas, which is believed to have killed tens of thousands of people, mostly Palestinian women and children.

The Senate is currently considering a bill aimed at preventing anti-Semitism on American college campuses. It passed the House with bipartisan support, with proponents arguing it will allow the Department of Education to better investigate anti-Semitism on campus by enshrining a definition of it in law.

Free speech advocates have warned that this could undermine the First Amendment, because the definition of anti-Semitism in question equates a variety of criticisms of Israel with anti-Jewish hatred.

As a movement, Zionism has a diversity of supporters and critics, further complicating efforts to regulate hate speech around the term. Many of the college students leading pro-Palestinian encampments on college campuses in the US are Jewish, while some of Israel’s strongest Zionist supporters in Washington are evangelical Christians.