Along with Amouranth, Indiefoxx was one of the Twitch streamers heading the hot tub meta as well as the yoga ASMR controversy. Both displayed sexual content on Twitch, skirting its guidelines. Twitch allows content creators to perform in swimwear while near pools, hot tubs, and beaches, but after Twitch announced its support of women's bodies on the platform, Amouranth and Indiefoxx moved on to take over the ASMR category by creating ear-licking noises in exchange for subscriptions.
This led to several bans for both Indiefoxx and Amouranth, the former of which was banned a total of six times throughout 2021 for the same reasons. To many onlookers, such as streamers like xQc as well as Twitch viewers, it seemed like Twitch wasn't planning on taking any further action than short three-day bans, or "slaps on the wrist" as World of Warcraft streamer Asmongold called it.
But recently, Indiefoxx lost her Twitch partnership, a Twitter user revealed by datamining. Not only that, but it looks like she's been permanently banned on the platform as well. Her Twitter profile no longer promotes her Twitch profile, and the ban she received on June 28th is still ongoing, which is longer than any ban she's received for sexual content. This could very well mean Twitch will start taking more action in regards to content unsuitable for teens and kids.
Twitch's Handling of the Hot Tub Meta
Many users criticized the way Twitch handled the hot tub meta. Asmongold believes the women involved get preferential treatment likely due to the financial gain. Twitch earns a profit from ad revenue, and with the popularity of hot tub and sexual ASMR streams, it's probably that the Amazon-owned platform saw an increase in profits from ads. It would seem that there's no incentive for Twitch to put a stop to mature content, despite the number of teenagers that may be using the platform, except for brands pulling their ads from the site.
How NSFW Content Could Impact Twitch's Creators
Amouranth's demonetization weeks ago could prove as a warning of what may happen to other content creators on Twitch, a theory brought up by Pokimane. Without warning, Twitch pulled her ad revenue and later said this was a decision made by the ad companies. This event has occurred on YouTube multiple times and is known as an "Adpocalypse," where the platform demonetized creators deemed not "family-friendly" for as little as swearing. If ad companies pulled out from Twitch, it would harm the platform's revenue in addition to its content creators'.
Indiefoxx hasn't clarified the situation herself, but being permanently banned and losing her Twitch partnership could be the site's way of preventing an Adpocalypse from happening. Twitch is never transparent about its reasons for punishments, but this could very well be due to ad companies not wanting to be associated with Indiefoxx's sexual content.
On the other hand, many theorize this is Twitch's way of appeasing user complaints. Many want to see sexual content completely banned on Twitch and don't want to see measures like separate mature tags or categories being created. Some still cling to the idea that Twitch is primarily the gaming website and believe Amouranth, Indiefoxx, and other NSFW content creators should be permanently banned, so they're celebrating the recent news regarding Indiefoxx.
While it's unclear what Twitch's current intentions may be, Indiefoxx's ban may mean the platform will take sexual content more seriously going forward, or it could simply mean she crossed the line by getting banned six times in six months.