“As is our process, we take appropriate action when we have evidence that a transmitter has acted in violation of our Community Guidelines or Terms of Service. These apply to all transmitters, regardless of status or importance in the community.” .
Beahm was banned from Twitch for two weeks in 2019 after he entered from a public restroom at E3. Many Twitch streamers and viewers were disappointed by the short duration of the ban, and were vocal about it, although they were allowed to continue broadcasting.
Dr. Disrespect’s current ban comes up to a trial in the Twitch community. Streamers and fans have been talking about sexual harassment at the hands of Twitch Partners for years, but the company recently decided to take action.
Earlier this week, several women accused streamers SayNoToRage, ProSyndicate, and HenryG of abuse. Music broadcaster YoungStarling shared a story on Twitter about Twitch CEO Emmett Shear dismissing stories of sexual harassment of women at an all-hands meeting a year ago. “He chuckled, said ‘wow, the things that happen on our platform, they can’t really comment,’ and he kept going,” YoungStarling said. Streamers organized a Twitch Blackout movement on Wednesday.
That night, Twitch promised to investigate allegations of abuse.
“We have prioritized the most serious cases and will begin issuing permanent suspensions based on our findings immediately,” said Twitch.
Since then, Twitch has banned a handful of featured transmitters, including BlessRNG, Wolv21, WarwitchTV, and IAmSp00n. Dr. Disrespect is the biggest name on Twitch’s ban list so far.
Twitch has been aware of issues with discriminatory restraint policies and sexual harassment on the site for a long time, and last month formed a Security Advisory Council to help shape and maintain new policies.
