On Monday, political Twitch streamer Hasan Piker was temporarily suspended for making a potentially threatening joke about US Senator Rick Scott. Piker responded on X and in a YouTube video. He apologized for his choice of words. However, he stood by the point that politicians defunding our Healthcare system should be punished.
This was the fourth time Piker has been banned on the platform, with his longest suspensions being seven days in 2019 and 2021. When this suspension happened, nobody knew how long it would be.
Some guessed this latest suspension could last 30 days or a week. However, nobody expected Piker to be back on the platform after just a single day. Users on social media were quick to call Twitch a “joke.”
It was suggested that Piker is “above the (Terms of Service) on Twitch.” Felix Lengyel, known as xQc, who was once Twitch’s most-viewed creator, wrote on X, “the way me and some others were treated in comparison is just comical.”
I’ve been covering Twitch for a decade. In that time, Twitch has been consistently obtuse when enforcing and dishing out bans. In 2019, I wrote about Twitch’s lack of consistency and how “not every offense gets properly punished on the platform.” Six years later, I’m seeing the same thing.
The Inconsistency of Twitch Moderation Is a Lingering Issue
Over the past year, V-Tubers showing too much virtual hip have received multi-day suspensions. Members of the Ayyrab podcast, for example, were banned for 30 days after comments about Isreal during their TwitchCon panel went viral. However, the ban came almost a month after TwitchCon, when news broke that Twitch had not allowed users in Israel or Palestine to make new accounts.
These bans could be seen as fair and balanced if there was consistent enforcement across the board. But some streamers, in the eyes of viewers, receive preferential treatment.
Dan Clancy, the CEO of Twitch, has admitted that he is a fan of Piker. He’s even had workers at the Twitch office sing Happy Birthday to the political commentator. Piker is a workhorse for Twitch, streaming nearly every day of the week. This has earned him the spot as the sixth most-viewed channel on the platform, according to TwitchMetrics.
That said, Twitch is planning to make moderation a little clearer. At TwitchCon last year, Clancy announced that soon, when streamers are banned, they be told the exact reason why. Additionally, if a chat message or specific clip leads to a ban, Twitch would inform the creator in an email. However, that feature has yet to be released.
If Twitch Is a Job, It Should Communicate Like a Job Does
If history is any indication, this potential new feature will likely not be used consistently to enforce ban length. This is incredibly frustrating for those who rely on Twitch to reach their audience and maintain their income. For professional creators, Twitch is a job. With regular jobs, if you’re suspended, you’re given a clear time frame for returning. It’s reasonable for creators to expect the same transparency.
Years ago, I thought Twitch could improve its moderation policies. I hoped they’d make a system that clearly explains how long a ban will last from an infraction. But now I’m inclined to believe that Twitch doesn’t want a simple system that is uniform across the board, because then they couldn’t pick and choose ban length.
