The streaming group Mega64 was banned from Twitch for violating its terms of service, leading to a fan backlash.
After losing a number of popular streamers and content creators to rivals like Mixer and Facebook Gaming, Twitch has managed to upset more of its viewers; this time by banning podcast/streaming group Mega64.
Recently, the group held its annual ChristmasCast, which featured an eating challenge that resulted in vomiting. This seems to be the reason why Twitch deemed the stream as a violation of its terms of service, having considered it an act of self-harm.
This led to a backlash from Mega64’s fans, who have pointed out that vomiting on stream has happened before on previous ChristmasCasts and has never resulted in them being banned.
It’s also revitalised the criticism that Twitch has been inconsistent with how it chooses whether to ban streamers or not. One streamer was considered unfairly banned for wearing ‘undergarments’ during one of her streams, whereas another was given no such punishment after she threw her cat and gave it vodka, with many citing it as animal abuse.
Mega64 took the ban well, though, even agreeing that they ‘went too far’ in an official Tweet. They added that they were ‘looking into this,’ which implied that they were trying to appeal to Twitch to have the ban reversed. If so, it worked, as they have since announced that the ban was lifted and that their ChristmasCast would be uploaded to YouTube.
It looks like ChristmasCast 2019 went too far and we were effectively removed from Twitch. We are looking into this. Thanks to everyone for watching- we had a blast and a great 2019.
— Mega64 (@mega64) December 16, 2019
The Mega64 Twitch channel is back online. Thanks for all your support over the last couple days- we couldn’t have done it without you guys. We’re back to streaming over 15 years worth of our videos on MEGA64 TV now! https://t.co/B6Pmr2stPX pic.twitter.com/qNaX7raLyE
— Mega64 (@mega64) December 17, 2019
After managing to lose big names like Fortnite streamer Ninja, Twitch is increasingly under pressure to not only retain its current stars but to make it clear to them and viewers what is and isn’t acceptable.
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