Anyone following video game industry news has probably heard about the tumultuous last several months for Twitch as a platform. Alongside an influx of DMCA takedown notices, more Twitch streamers seem to be getting banned in recent weeks.
Some of these cases are justified, but there are plenty of bans that have been reversed some time later due to an error on Twitch’s end. Now, another smaller Twitch streamer has spoken out about been banned for using what was deemed to be an “inappropriate” username on the platform.
The Twitch streamer in question went by the username “itsbrittneyb1tch,” a reference to the Britney Spears song “Gimme More.” She received an email from Twitch letting her know that her Twitch account was banned for “using an inappropriate username” on November 7, and said she has yet to hear any concrete response from Twitch as to if she can appeal or simply change the username going forward.
As of late, it seems that Twitch has been cracking down on those who violate both the site’s community guidelines and its terms of service. A similar incident occurred with a streamer going by the username “Pajja_,” however Twitch eventually reversed the ban on that account.
There have also been some major Twitch account suspensions over the past week. Twitch banned xQc’s account for a brief period after the streamer engaged in stream sniping during a GlitchCon Twitch Rivals tournament. Shortly after this was announced, three more streamers were given the same punishment as xQc, while a fourth streamer had to forfeit any earnings from the Twitch Rivals tournament.
After her ban, itsbrittneyb1tch has apparently been trying to appeal to Twitch’s support account on social media. Unlike the GlitchCon incident on Twitch last week, it appears that this ban may be indefinite. While each party may have violated Twitch’s guidelines in these instances, one can't help but think the punishment is unbalanced, especially since it appears that Twitch has yet to provide any further word on the issue.
It’s clear that many Twitch streamers are facing a lot of uncertainty on the platform. With Twitch streamers receiving many DMCA takedown notices, and others from all spectrums being banned for various reasons, it seems to be a difficult time to be a content creator, especially if streaming content on Twitch makes up a large portion of one’s income. With any luck, itsbrittneyb1tch will be able to get some sort of closure from Twitch regarding her account.