Twitch unbans Forsen after indefinite suspension for innappropriate GIF

Popular streamer Sebastian ‘Forsen’ Fors has been unbanned from Twitch. He was handed an “indefinite” suspension in November for showing a GIF of a horse, sent by a viewer, which the platform deemed inappropriate.

As it was not Forsen’s first suspension, but his third, Twitch’s policy on repeat violations led them to dealing him an indefinite ban, rather than a set time, as is more common.

However, there was backlash against Twitch for a number of reasons; fans felt they had not taken context into consideration (Forsen was unaware of the content before showing it, and quickly removed it from view when he realized), and argued it was a harsher punishment than other similar or even worse violations by other streamers.

Many brought up the infamous moment when Pokimane accidentally showing inappropriate content also sent by a viewer, and was not given a suspension at all, but rather only a warning.

Regardless, the ban on Forsen’s account has now been lifted after exactly a month from when it was meted out. It’s unknown whether this was always the intended length of the ban, or if the platform reduced it after consideration. Twitch never comments on community guidelines violations to protect the privacy of users.

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Forsen was notified that he would be unbanned just after Christmas earlier in December, and indeed, his account was reinstated on Boxing Day.

Although Forsen will be happy to have his account back, along with it’s 1.4 million followers, a one month forced break for someone of his popularity is still a serious financial hit.

Having said that, notable streamers who have ‘comeback’ streams after a suspension usually enjoy a spike in viewers, thanks to the hype and/or drama surrounding their return.

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He’ll also have a catalog of games to catch up on – his viewers will perhaps be in for some Cyberpunk 2077 gameplay.

Twitch is making sweeping changes to some of their community guidelines in January 2021, mainly around their hate and harassment policies. Some of these changes have turned heads too though – check out some of the biggest ones here.