Top Twitch streamer and MMO star Asmongold has hit out at the broadcasting platform for banning fellow influencer xQc due to watching the 2020 Olympics on July 28, calling the suspension “stupid.”
The 2020 Olympics are finally underway in Tokyo, Japan, and a slew of streamers are getting in on the hype. However, Twitch has been less than friendly regarding rebroadcasts of the Games, and is even hitting streamers with DMCA’s for merely broadcasting near Olympic venues in the country.
Felix ‘xQc’ Lengyel was the latest Twitch star to be hit with a ban after watching a Judo match between Japan’s Arai Chizuru vs Austria’s Michaela Polleres on stream on July 28.
At first, Lengyel didn’t seem to be too bothered about the potential for a DMCA takedown, claiming that he’d be fine as long as he deleted the VOD of his broadcast.
However, the streamer was hit with a five-hour ban shortly thereafter, prompting him to publish a statement apologizing for the misunderstanding and promising he’ll be “better/smarter next time, and follow guidelines more strictly.”
Several high profile content creators have spoken out about xQc’s ban, including the likes of Tyler1 and MoistCr1Tikal, but Asmongold is the latest to throw his two cents into the ring… and he isn’t a fan of Twitch’s policies regarding the 2020 Olympics.
I THINK I GOT MY CHANNEL LIVE-DMCA'd. I TOOK NECESSARY PRECAUTIONS AND THOUGHT IT WOULD BE FINE. REALLY DIDN'T EXPECT IT BUT I COUL'VE EASILY AVOIDED THIS. SORRY FOR EVERYONE INVOLVED INCLUDING THE VIEWERS. I'LL BE BETTER/SMARTER NEXT TIME AND FOLLOW GUIDELINES MORE STRICTLY
— xQc (@xQc) July 28, 2021
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“I hate — absolutely, f**king hate — the control that DMCA gives people,” he said of the situation. “It’s way too f**king much. I let people upload my content as much as I can and make money off it.”
“I don’t make a f**king cent off of it,” he continued. “I don’t need to. It’s totally fine. I think that the philosophy, the law, with that kind of stuff is completely behind. It’s completely behind the times, and I think that they’re stupid and foolish for that.”
It’s clear that Asmongold feels changes need to be made regarding DMCA’s on Twitch — and luckily, the platform recently rolled out a change that reversed the decision to make such notices permanent for streamers, although plenty of broadcasters are still disgruntled by the prevalence of takedowns on the site.
