Twitch Hires Xbox Exec Angela Hession as Head of Trust and Safety

Amazon’s Twitch hired Angela Hession, a 20-year veteran of Microsoft, as the live-streaming service’s global VP of trust and safety.

Hession most recently served as Microsoft’s global head of Xbox trust and safety, where she oversaw the creation of Xbox’s Project Artemis, a “grooming detection” program to identify online predators attempting to lure children for sexual purposes. She led the Microsoft Safety virtual team focused on creating the Safer World Faster initiative that spanned multiple consumer products.

According to Twitch, Hession’s appointment builds on its ongoing investment in trust and safety capabilities. Over the past two years, Twitch claims, it has doubled the size of its safety operations team and introduced new features and policies to give creators and users more control over their experience on the service.

“Angela is an experienced and energetic trust and safety leader, with expertise in improving online safety in global communities. Her perspective and collaboration will be invaluable to Twitch as we navigate incredible growth,” Twitch COO Sara Clemens said in announcing her hire. “The safety of our community is our top priority and we’re thrilled to welcome Angela to the team.”

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At Microsoft, which she first joined in 2001, Hession co-led Women in Gaming and Technology, was the champion for the Xbox University Recruiting program, and served as a Catalyst mentor across Microsoft’s interns and new-in-career employees.

Hession commented, “Twitch has an incredibly dynamic, diverse and engaged community, and I’m excited to join the team to lead trust and safety with and for our community. As live streaming continues to grow and connect people across the world, we have an opportunity to work together to make Twitch a safer and more inclusive space where everyone can enjoy and participate in live entertainment.”

Launched in 2011, Twitch has specialized in video game and esports livestreaming and has tried to expand its purview to other categories like live music, sports and art. Amazon bought Twitch in 2014 for about $970 million.

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Reinaldo Massengill

Update: 2024-02-13

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