Popular streaming service, Twitch, has began rolling out permanent bans in response to an uptick in sexual misconduct allegations made against popular streamers.
“We’ve prioritized the most severe cases and will begin issuing permanent suspensions in line with our findings immediately,” Twitch stated.
“In many of the cases, the alleged incident took place off Twitch, and we need more information to make a determination,” the streaming platform adds.
The company did not name any users outright, but a Twitter account used to identify banned users has seen an uptick in traction. Thus far, users such as Wolv21, BlessRNG, WarwitchTV, DreadedCone and IAmSpOOn have all reportedly been given the boot. Meanwhile, other popular streamers such as SayNoToRage and Syndicate have been accused of sexual misconduct, but have not yet been removed.
These bans come in the wake of a site-wide blackout in which users planned to boycott the service for a day in an effort to raise awareness around the alleged misconduct.
In addition, Twitch has made its employees aware that such conduct would not be tolerated within the company. This week, Twitch CEO Emmett Shear shared an internal memo that was sent to his staff.
“This reckoning and industry-wide actions are overdue, and this is another issue that we, and the industry, need to address and to create lasting and positive change,” he wrote.
The streaming platform vows to develop tools and resources to better educate users in dealing with this issue. Twitch will continue to issue bans as certain cases develop beyond the platform and possibly in a courtroom.
