Twitch moderators were quite active in 2019, doling out bans and suspensions to a slew of content creators on the platform. Though some infractions certainly warranted a suspension, other bans sparked dissent and were widely-viewed as unjustified.
The ambiguous nature of Twitch’s Community Guidelines caused heavy controversy this year. Content creators, fans, and viewers struggled to understand what is and isn’t ban-worthy. Many streamers felt they were punished for ludicrous reasons without being given fair warning. And broadcasters who faced severe community backlash, like Alinity for tossing her cat over her head, were let off with a proverbial slap on the wrist.
Here are the eight most memorable Twitch bans of 2019.
8) Dellor permanently banned for breaking a keyboard on his head
Former Overwatch pro Matt “Dellor” Vaughn had his Twitch channel indefinitely suspended for “self harm” after he broke a keyboard over his head in October. This was a behavior that the streamer repeated many times on his broadcast, and Dellor asserts that he never even received a warning.
“I’ve done this hundreds of times on my stream,” Dellor said. “I took time to figure out the cheapest, flimsiest, easiest to break keyboard to make sure I never harmed myself in the process. I had no intention of harming myself, I did it to entertain my fans.”
Though the infraction that broke the camel’s back may have been minor, Twitch claims that there were already several strikes against Dellor. The former pro was dropped from Toronto Esports for calling a player the “N-word,” and was previously Twitch banned for making a sexist comment to a female player in Apex Legends.
With streaming on Twitch out of the picture, Dellor has since moved to YouTube and has been putting a lot of time into battle royale Fortnite.
7) TF Blade mistakenly suspended for using racial slur
Team Liquid streamer TF Blade had a rocky 2019, fighting through several Twitch and League of Legends account suspensions. The drama began in April, when the streamer was accused of using a racial slur on stream. TF Blade claimed that Twitch “misheard and assumed” that he used the N-word, when in fact he said “idiots.”
Other content creators came to the top laner’s defense. Fellow League streamer Yassuo thought it was a stretch, and felt that “there’s no way Blade said that.” Even Riot researcher Nathan “Blaustoise” Blau took TF Blade’s side in a tweet, claiming Twitch fosters “plenty of racist and non-inclusive behavior,” but “we don’t need to make shit up and go looking for it.”
The 30-day ban was eventually reduced to a week.
But that wasn’t the end of TF Blade’s 2019 woes. The streamer had his Turkish League account suspended for two weeks in September for abusive chat. TF Blade claimed that players were trolling his matches and intentionally feeding to stop him from achieving his goal of being the no. 1 ranked player in the world.
A Twitch ban followed shortly after frustrations got the best of TF Blade. The streamer called EUNE and Turkish players “dogs” and “unintelligent,” and claimed Riot’s Turkish office was “racist” for only targeting him and not the toxic players griefing him.
6) Grizz banned for showing a fake pair of testicles on stream
PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds streamer Grizz received the ban hammer for hanging too low on his Sept. 20 stream. Grizz poked fun at ASMR streamer Amouranth with a hilarious parody involving a dog and a fake pair of testicles. But the stunt cost him a three-day Twitch ban.
While playing with his dog on the floor, Grizz let an artificial scrotum slip from under his shorts. Even though actual nudity wasn’t shown, the streamer was likely banned for broadcasting sexually suggestive content in the form of a prop.
But the ban didn’t stop the Amouranth parodies from coming. At the end of Grizz’s Twitch ban, he once again mimicked the ASMR streamer as he escaped from “Twitch Jail” with a bear mask on.
5) Hasan allegedly banned for saying America “deserved” 9/11
The Young Turks Network host caused some controversy in August when he criticized the United States for remaining allies with Saudi Arabia. Hasan Piker’s claim that “America deserved 9/11” for supporting terrorism pre- and post-tragedy likely landed him the seven-day Twitch suspension.
Hasan was reacting to Rep. Dan Crenshaw of Texas defending America’s practice of maintaining military bases in over 100 countries in his appearance on Joe Rogan’s podcast.
Hasan’s comments eventually made it to “normie” news. The target of Hasan’s criticism responded to the streamer’s comments in an interview with Fox News. Crenshaw claimed that Hasan “didn’t understand history” or “foreign policy.”
Though the streamer admitted he used “imprecise language,” he backed his stance and felt that his words were “weaponized by the right.”
4) BeesOnMyHeadTV banned after being carjacked
IRL streamer BeesOnMyHeadTV had his account suspended after a frightening altercation during his Sept. 14 broadcast. The streamer appeared to get into a confrontation with a group in a white car that ended with gunshots and a carjacking.
Though BeesOnMyHeadTV later informed fans that he was “ok,” Twitch thought it would be best practice to indefinitely suspend the channel for his own protection.
“Due to an on-stream emergency, your content was taken down to protect your privacy,” an email from Twitch to the streamer read. “Trying to get around this restriction can result in a longer suspension.”
The ban didn’t last long, however, as BeesOnMyHeadTV had his channel restored on Sept. 18.
3) Anomaly Twitch ban for showing a Hitler Minecraft skin
Popular YouTuber Anomaly received a hefty 30-day Twitch suspension for showing an offensive Minecraft skin while broadcasting.
During his July stream, the Swedish streamer opened up his menu to accidentally reveal a cosmetic of Adolf Hitler. Anomaly later explained that the Hitler skin was for a “Meinkraft” video that him and his friends were going to record.
Anomaly appealed the 30-day suspension for being “excessive,” and his channel was restored Aug. 16.
2) Dr Disrespect banned for streaming in a public bathroom
The Two-time Blockbuster Video Game Champion landed in some hot water during this year’s E3 Conference in Los Angeles. Dr Disrespect was live streaming his experience at the event, when his camera crew followed him into a public bathroom and earned him a two-week Twitch ban.
Though Twitch’s Community Guidelines don’t specifically mention filming in bathrooms, they do prohibit “sharing content that violates another’s reasonable expectation of privacy… without permission.”
The violation may have been unintentional, but Dr Disrespect’s live stream caught a number of E3 attendees using the restroom—one of which looked to be a minor.
The Doc has since made his return and is enjoying immense success in followers and viewership, especially after Ninja and shroud’s departure to Mixer.
1) Amouranth banned for nudity
Popular ASMR streamer Amouranth tops our list for revealing a bit too much of herself in a Sept. 8 broadcast. During a special ASMR stream, Amouranth laid on the floor to play with her dog, likely hoping for some peculiar sounds to entertain her audience with. But an ill-timed wardrobe malfunction led to a couple of days in “Twitch Jail.”
Though the streamer posts adult cosplay on her Patreon, Twitch’s Terms of Service strictly forbid sexually explicit content and nudity.
The controversial ban didn’t last long, though. Amouranth made her return with a video making light of the situation. The 15-second clip showcased the ASMR streamer making her escape from a dog crate, labeled “Twitch Jail,” and claiming that the “last two days” were “kind of ruff.”
Published: Dec 23, 2019 09:30 pm