Twitch issues erratic VTuber bans

Fallenshadow

Correction: We erroneously reported that Zentreya had been banned. Zentreya only received an official warning for content that had previously been considered acceptable by Twitch.

Over the past week, multiple VTubers have experienced weird interactions with Twitch support wherein their accounts are being banned.

Users are experiencing bans for unclear reasons, or even when they are made clear they are being banned for things that were seemingly acceptable as little as a month ago. Of note, VShojo talent Zentreya was caught up in one of these actions.

What makes it stranger is that Twitch appears to be making moderation decisions based on community outcry. VTuber FallenShadow (affectionately referred to as Shondo by fans) was banned for allegedly running afoul of Twitch’s policy on “self-harm behavior”. Only a few days later Twitch reversed their decision while still claiming that they were correct in their initial ban.

VTubers and VTuber fans are used to a certain degree of double standards from Twitch. With sexualized streams featuring female streamers in the flesh often going overlooked if not tacitly encouraged, meanwhile anime women are apparently held to a higher standards. One VTuber joked about pasting their head over a woman in a bikini in order to avoid Twitch’s erratic moderation.

Even Twitch Ambassadors are left confused by the site’s recent actions, especially since a handful of Ambassadors are VTubers themselves. But as one member explains, Ambassadors aren’t exactly privy to backend discussions about site moderation.

It’s worth mentioning that the largest VTuber company in the world hololive primarily uses YouTube.

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About

A basement-dwelling ogre, Brandon's a fan of indie games and slice of life anime. Has too many games and not enough time.


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