Destiny baffled by “insane” Twitch ban record for suggestive streamers

Long-time Twitch streamer Steven ‘Destiny’ Bonell says Twitch’s punishment for streamers who repeatedly violate community guidelines is “insane”, citing how many small bans some channels have received.

Destiny himself has faced suspensions in the past, most recently in April 2021, after a guest inexplicably flashed on camera. He also lost his partnership over allegedly “encouraging” violent protests.

Twitch suspensions typically range from 24 hours to 30 days, depending on the severity of the infraction, as well as the number of previous bans an account has faced.

Twitch says, “We keep a record of past violations, and multiple suspensions over time can lead to an indefinite suspension.” However, in the case of Amouranth and Indiefoxx, who were both banned for three days in June, the pair seem to not be punished more harshly despite their history of bans.

“You have people who actually skirt the line – not only do they skirt the line, but they’re actively pushing it as hard as possible to make money off of it for months. And it’s just like ‘3-day ban, 3-day ban, 1-day ban, 1-day ban, 3-day ban.’ Are you serious?”

Destiny likens this content, which “pushes the bar”, to him having a counter for how many racial slurs he could use under the guise of ‘educational context’, to avoid a suspension.

“That would be the equivalent of what I would have to do, to reach what these girls do on their stream. That’s insane dude. That’s just really f**king irritating.”

After Indiefoxx’s ban, she joked on Twitter “They saw how hard we’ve been working and wanted to give us the weekend off.”

The reality is, for many big streamers, although a few days suspended can hurt their revenue temporarily, it can also give them notoriety, which in turn increases viewership and revenue in the long run.

Big streamers like Dr Disrespect and Tyler1, broke records for viewership on their ‘comeback’ streams from a ban, as the story and controversy around suspensions can build hype around a streamer’s name. Overall, being hit with a short channel suspension may in fact be a net positive for streamers.

Twitch doesn’t have any set policy on how many violations of community guidelines will result in indefinite bans, but some fans point to the incident with Velvet_7, who has been banned for almost two years. Like Amouranth and Indiefoxx, Velvet_7 was banned due to sexual content, but unlike them, has not been allowed to return to the platform.