Such situations aren’t rare. If a streamer receives complaints and a moderator confirms them, the channel will be blocked.
In general, bans have reasonable grounds. For example, a streamer loses a match in an online game and insults his opponent or teammate. But there also are unprovoked blocks, and it’s not clear what to do. We gathered 6 dull and odd reasons that streamers might be banned because of.
«I`m 11» meme
In 2015-2016 there was a popular video with a girl who said: «I’m 11, so shut the f-word up». This phrase became a meme, and it was often used in online flame wars.
For some time, such comments might be the reason for a ban on Twitch. In August 2021, the streamer named ChipSa has published the next tweet about that:
Twitch algorithms try to protect underage users from telling personal data when chatting.
The reasons are simple: Twitch algorithms try to protect underage users from telling personal data when chatting. But if you have got banned because of age, you should write to tech support and show proof. For example, a passport photo.
Streamers might be blocked because of their real age. According to the platform rules, if a person is under 13, he or she is not allowed to stream. H1ghSky1 streamed the Fortnite game and participated in tournaments. When he signed a contract with a cybersport organization, he has lied about he was 13, but actually, he was 11 at that moment. As a result, he was disqualified from tournaments and had to stream with his mom present for a while.
Mentions of Winnie-the-Pooh
In China, the Winnie-the-Pooh character is prohibited by legislation. The thing is, Xí Jìnpíng, the General Secretary of Communist Party of China, was compared with this teddy bear in 2013. And it became a meme.
When the «xí jìnpíng winnie the pooh» phrase is requested, Google shows lots of collages where Xí Jìnpíng photo is next to Winnie-the-Pooh character.
China’s authorities didn’t get the joke. In 2018, they have deleted all data related to the teddy bear in their internal social networks and have prohibited any mention of it. Even ‘Christopher Robin’ movie was banned in Chinese cinemas.
This ban has also affected Twitch in China. Many users streaming or watching Overwatch noticed that if someone tells on writes the ‘Winnie-the-Pooh’ phrase, he would be banned instantly.
These are messages on the Blizzard tech support forum. A user wrote that he got banned just for answering the question ‘Who is the friend of Tigger?’. Another user wrote that the same has happened to him.
Background music and sounds during streams
In the USA, there is a law named the ‘Digital Millennium Copyright Act’ (DMCA). And copyright holders can bring suit for illegal usage of their products.
Twitch became to give temporary bans for music in streams. And because of that, lots of cover artists were affected. Streamers who played musical games like Beat Saber were also hooked.
Streamers who played musical games like Beat Saber were also hooked.
Over time, bans because of DMCA have been taken to the level of absurdity. Now it’s easy to get banned for in-game background sounds. For example, the sound of rain or clock chimes. Streamers have to get out, but it sometimes looks weird.
DeadPirateBrandon has muted all sounds in Resident Evil 2 and voiced the game by himself, including sounds of zombies and gunshots.
DMCA ban is temporary, but Twitch administration doesn’t tell how long it will last. Moderators check if the violation was done by accident or intent. And then the ban is automatically canceled.
Streamers even have started to delete old music videos from their channels. But it happens that one might get banned even for videos that were deleted earlier.
Forbidden syllables
On Twitch, there is a list of forbidden words that might insult people on racial or sexual orientation grounds. But now you don’t need to use such words, it’s enough to say a few syllables similar to them.
Savix was playing the World of Warcraft when said ‘I got my gun out and shot that Naga’ after a battle. Naga is the race of snakelike creatures from Azeroth. A player gets some loot for killing it — a scale, for example. It can be used to forge Azure Shoulders. It’s an armor for 14-level players that adds 5 points to stamina.
After a while, there was a raid on his channel. Viewers started to write ‘Shoot some Nagas’ in the chat. As a result, most of the viewers who wrote it were permanently banned. The reason is that ‘Naga’ is consonant with another N-word. Twitch algorithms suspect users of hate speech and death threats.
Savix wasn’t banned, but some people who wrote such comments were unpleasantly surprised that they weren’t able to stream because of it.
Users wrote that they didn’t mean something bad. Exactly the opposite, they were excited that the streamer had killed a rare mob.
Generally, a streamer might be banned for forbidden words even if he or she doesn’t say them. For example, some detractor makes a donation with a message containing such words. A robot reads it aloud, and the streamer gets banned instantly.
It’s dangerous to use voice chats when streaming. Disguised Toast was playing PUBG and had lost the match. One of his team members got upset and started to swear. All viewers heard that, and the streamer got blocked. This ban was one of the main reasons why Disguised Toast had changed the streaming platform for a while.
Erotic content
When Cyberpunk 2077 was released, many people were anxious that they would not be able to stream this game because of lots of naked characters. But Twitch administration said that erotic content is not banned on the platform. Streamers just need not to focus on it when playing.
It’s the official tweet about erotic content in Cyberpunk 2077
However, one might be blocked for erotic, even while playing harmless chess. Polish streamer H2P_Gucio was banned twice in 6 days. The first block he had received when he went away for a minute and got an invitation to play chess. There was a naked butt on the user’s profile pic. The second block was similar, but with a naked chest on the picture. The streamer understood what this can mean to him and had stopped the broadcast, but it was too late.
In his Twitter account, he wrote that got banned just for a day. But that was unpleasant though.
Erotic content can be found in other unexpected places. Streamer Atrioc was speedrunning Wikipedia. That’s kind of streams where one jumps to pages and has to get to the article that has no connections with the first one. The streamer ended up a few times on pages with a photo of the male genital area and got blocked because of it. The ban was canceled in 3 days.
Inappropriate user names
To stand out among other streamers, users often choose memorable names. And even they can lead to a ban.
User Piece_Of_Sheet had been streaming for 8 years when he got banned because of an inappropriate user name. Algorithms likely reckoned his name consonant with a ‘piece of shit’ swear.
The streamer told about the Twitch strike in his Twitter account and the situation went public. In 3 days, the Twitch administration has canceled the block and apologized.
There was another situation. A user named Pajja_ was banned because his nickname was consonant with the Spanish word ‘paja’ which was slang for ‘masturbation’. The streamer from Serbia never realized that.
In his Twitter account, he wrote that he used this name for years and didn’t know that it could be offensive.
Even though the user wrote to tech support immediately, there was no answer for a month. The block was canceled only when this situation went public on Reddit. He had to change his nickname to Pavlle_, but the last stream was taking place more than six months ago. He streams on YouTube nowadays.
What to do if you were banned on Twitch
A ban can be temporary or permanent. A temporary ban can last up to 30 days and a streamer will be blocked forever if he or she gets three temporary bans.
If you are sure that a channel is blocked by mistake, you can contact tech support here.
After choosing the category, you will see the Twitch guide on how to unblock a channel. If your channel is already banned, the next step is to describe why you reckon it’s a mistake.
After sending a request, you will get a message about its registration. Then experts will check your account and cancel the block if it’s suspended by a mistake. If not, the channel will be still blocked.
