Twitch recently reversed a ban of streamer Viperous, who was recently suspended for using "hateful slurs," despite actually just saying "nerd." Viperous regularly streams Rainbow Six Siege and Fortnite, one of Twitch's most popular titles.
Twitch has made a whole lot of odd decisions recently, particularly when it comes to who it bans and what for. Twitch did not ban Tfue, a popular Fortnite streamer, after he used a racial slur on stream (an actual one, not "nerd"), and the company has not doled out significant bans for many streamers who break the Twitch sexual content rules. Meanwhile, smaller streamers have been punished for far less severe infractions, such as in the case of an infamously banned SpongeBob emote. The apparent inconsistency of Twitch's bans has led to accusations of bias toward its more popular streamers and to confusion about how bans are handled, generally.
Viperous tweeted at Twitch after she first received notification of her suspension on November 9. She said the ban apparently resulted from a clip of her stream that viewers had circulated, claiming she said a racial slur. Viperous claimed she had only said "nerd" - a word she often calls those who kill her in-game - and did not understand why she was getting banned for something she didn't do. Fans like Twitter user Blankzy responded to her tweet with slowed-down videos of the clip that got her banned, pointing out that it did indeed appear she just said "nerd."
On November 12, Viperous tweeted a screenshot of a support message from Twitch that announced the suspension was issued by mistake and had been reversed, allowing her to stream once again. In a reply to a comment, Viperous said she had lost about 120 subscribers in the time when the clip was being circulated pre-ban, but the real letdown is that her Twitch Partner application was rejected due to the mistaken suspension.
While Twitch was able to reverse its mistaken ban of Viperous, the fact that it happened at all is just another example of the actions that have the internet turning against Twitch. It's just one small incident, but it's also a part of a series of baffling mistakes - like Twitch promoting porn on Ninja's old channel - that may give some insight into why so many famous streamers are leaving the platform. Fortnite streamer CouRage leaving Twitch for YouTube Gaming was the latest in the recent mass exodus, and it's not likely to end with him.
Source: Viperous/Twitter