As one of the most popular cartoons in the West, Spongebob’s “ripped my pants” episode is largely famous among young people – but Twitch banned an emote using the humorous cartoon, despite airing on Nickelodeon for a number of years.
Twitch streamer “SHiFT” blasted the platform for banning his emote showing Spongebob’s ripped pants on September 15, posting an email from the site that claimed his emote had been nixed due to “sexual content or nudity.”
As a professional “Spongebob Squarepants: Battle for Bikini Bottom” streamer, it comes as little surprise that SHiFT boasts a slew of Spongebob-themed emotes, but this one caught Twitch’s eye for a reason that left many fans scratching their collective heads in confusion.
“TWITCH, YOU’RE JOKING RIGHT?” SHiFT wrote, later taking shots at the site’s moderation due to seeing “horny boobie emotes everywhere” but having his nonsexual Spongebob emote banned.
However, it appears that the emote has since been approved, thanks to an unexpected change to the previously “NSFW” image.
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HAHAHHAHA TWITCH YOURE JOKING RIGHT???? pic.twitter.com/nyQDmxHphD
— SHiFT (@shiftposting) September 15, 2019
Rather than showing Spongebob’s underwear outright, SHiFT made the undergarment transparent – a change that Twitch deigned to accept this go-round for an unexplained reason.
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According to SHiFT, he’d never received an answer for why his emote had been banned in the first place – nor why his change had rendered the emote acceptable at a later date.
After trying to figure out what could possibly be “sexual” about it for 10 days while begging for Twitch to give me answers, shiftRIP has finally been verified after…
making the underwear transparent
…
(I never got an answer from Twitch either) pic.twitter.com/RHUtR0RLQg
— SHiFT (@shiftposting) September 25, 2019
“I understand why Twitch doesn’t want “underwear emotes” on their site,” SHiFT admitted. “…But their response was so automated and vague that it sounded hilarious.”
- Read More: Overwatch had been approved for the site, while SHiFT’s good-humored image had been nixed – despite airing on a child-friendly channel.
while this is perfectly fine btw pic.twitter.com/ZVuwxKRTSw
— (@_Mement0m0ri) September 25, 2019
SHiFT’s case adds to the ongoing conversation concerning Twitch’s moderation, following streamer Amouranth’s ban for a NSFW slip-up and another broadcaster’s suspension over showing a Pink Floyd poster during a stream.
