Don't Worry, Twitch Is Not Banning 'Ara Ara,' Despite Viral Rumor

Twitter was briefly set ablaze this morning when it thought that Twitch had updated its sexual content guidelines to ban the phrase Ara Ara. Luckily for everyone, this is not the case.

For those unaware, "ara ara" is a Japanese expression that translates roughly to "well, well …" It has been associated with shotacon hentai, a subgenre of Japanese pornography associated with older women and boys, because it will often be said by a predatory character before an NSFW situation. Outside of that specific context, it's more of a meme referencing lewd anime culture that's ultimately harmless, and in and of itself, it is not a pornographic phrase.

However, the rumor that Twitch was going to ban the use of "ara ara" set off a panic among streamers this morning. It started circulating when Twitter user @MagusScarlet suggested that in Twitch's updated policy on sexual content, the definition of what constitutes a bannable offense could include using "ara ara."

This was enough to set off doomsday calls for lewdtubers on Twitch, who lamented that if Twitch wouldn't let them say Ara Ara, they would be forced to take their talents elsewhere.

While the "ara arapocalypse" was hitting Twitter, it seems many parroted the rumor while not reading the actual text of Twitch's new guidelines, which make no mention of "ara ara."

The major outline of Twitch's updated TOS with regards to sexual content boils down to "no porn and no prostitution." Twitch lays out that a streamer cannot advertise their porn on other sites nor can they do phone sex on stream.

It seems the point that led to the "ara ara" rumor was the fourth bullet point: "no … engaging with other person(s) or chat to create sexual content." Some interpreted this to mean any talk or reference to sex, even if it were something as innocuous as a Smash or Pass list, was a bannable offense. Others were less concerned about potentially draconian speech police coming to Twitch.

At the time of writing, Twitch has not banned anyone for saying "ara ara" and it seems reasonable to assume that they won't, judging by the text of their updated terms of service.