A Pokemon streamer is calling out Twitch after the Amazon-owned platform permanently banned him for hate speech for saying he wanted to “destroy more heterosexuals” at Mario Kart.
Twitch has had some very controversial bans in the last couple of months. In December, Hasan was suspended for calling white people “crackers” – a term the site considers a slur. Then in January, Pokimane was banned for watching Avatar: The Last Airbender despite the popularity of the new TV show meta.
Now, the site is facing controversy yet again after Twitch streamer ‘AngelBePlayin’ made comments that were found to be “hate speech” against straight people.
While the streamer has since been unbanned, that hasn’t stopped a lot of pushback against the platform by users confused the ban happened to begin with.
can anyone pls assist me? my twitch account was just randomly banned when i haven’t streamed in over two days. i’ve never used hate speech in my life. i’m literally panicking because this is a part of my income. anyone? @TwitchSupport pic.twitter.com/wMdfwJeOMz
— Angel 🪽 (@Angelbeplayin) January 10, 2022
Streamer banned for “hate speech” targeting straight people
On January 10, AngelBePlayin posted an email he received from Twitch detailing the reason for the ban along with a clip of the incident.
In the footage, Angel had just won in Mario Kart and commented, “now that I’ve won I have to take my leave and destroy more heterosexuals.”
Twitch apparently found this comment to be promoting or supporting violence or death against others due to their protected characteristics and decided to implement a permanent ban.
twitch taking action to defend straight people and banning my channel when they have ignored and left their BIPOC and Queer creators to deal with a ridiculous amount of hate speech time and time again is RIDICULOUS???
— Angel 🪽 (@Angelbeplayin) January 10, 2022
AngelBePlayin & viewers slam Twitch for ban
Angel was not happy with this decision and blasted Twitch, accusing the platform of ignoring harassment against marginalized groups.
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“Twitch taking action to defend straight people and banning my channel when they have ignored and left their BIPOC and Queer creators to deal with a ridiculous amount of hate speech time and time again is RIDICULOUS,” he wrote.
The streamer went on to claim that he has dealt with plenty of abuse himself, such as being told to kill himself, and the site refused to take action.
it’s the way hate raids went on for months and an entire movement was started by @RekItRaven and twitch ignored but i say i’m gonna destroy straights in a video game and my channel is banned. i can’t believe this… like this is not happening rn…
— Angel 🪽 (@Angelbeplayin) January 10, 2022
“I say I’m gonna destroy straights in a video game and my channel is banned. I can’t believe this… like this is not happening right now,” he added.
News of Angel’s ban spread around the community with many quote tweeting the original post and calling on Twitch to reverse the decision.
The way people are getting banned for less…
This isn't ok. Accountability needs to be across the board, not just when you feel like it https://t.co/vZgx3njV7G
— Raven's Not Here. (@RavenousTales_) January 10, 2022
RekItRaven, the streamer who pushed the TwitchDoBetter movement in 2021 amidst a massive hate raid issue was one such creator having AngelBePlayin’s back writing, “This isn’t ok. Accountability needs to be across the board, not just when you feel like it.”
Twitch doesn’t comment on individual bans, so it’s unlikely that the platform reveals why the ban happened to begin with, but given the fact it was rectified suggests the site agreed it was done in error
