Emmett Shear says video game streamers could benefit from more internet-savvy employment laws
Twitch Chief Executive Officer Emmett Shear thinks US employment laws could be improved to better support content creators who generate millions of dollars for the video live streaming site.
“It’s not quite a W-2 job and it’s not quite a contracting job,” Shear said in a recent interview. “I think we could really use legislation that created a third option that was appropriate for the gig economy and the creator economy.”
The debate over how to classify people who make a living through an app or a digital service, such as drivers at Uber Technologies Inc. or DoorDash Inc., or the Ikea furniture assemblers of TaskRabbit, has simmered for years. Some 16% of US adults have earned money through such apps, according to a Pew Research report last year.
Gig economy giants such as Uber Technologies Inc. and Lyft Inc. have spent years and millions of dollars in a push to keep drivers classified as contractors rather than employees, with mixed success. Shear’s comments echo those of Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, who has lobbied for a “ third way,” proposing guidelines for laws that would grant gig workers both flexibility and benefits. The Biden administration recently issued a proposal that could make it harder for gig companies to classify workers as contractors, and it could force them to categorize the people as employees entitled to certain protections and benefits.
Twitch, which is...
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