Twitch is one of the biggest online streaming platforms in the world, and its top streamers can command incredible levels of attention. However, the site is also well-known for its confusing and sometimes bizarre approach to bans, which can seemingly strike anyone at any time. The popular Japanese Twitch streamer Meowko recently announced that Twitch had decided to celebrate her birthday with an unexpected ban.
Meowko has gained a lot of attention for her streams, which often feature gameplay, hilarious costumes, and IRL streams set in various locations throughout Japan. A few months ago, she also reported gaining some negative attention in the form of a stalker. Fortunately, Meowko's current predicament appears to be safer, though it might be more annoying.
The streamer took to her official Twitter account to shed some light on what was happening. In her tweet, she explained that Twitch had surprise banned her for the crime of taking a break from her home workout stream to cook. Apparently, the issue is that she didn't change out of her gym clothes before she started making herself a snack. If the hot tub meta has taught Twitch streamers anything, it's that Twitch has very strict standards on acceptable attire for specific kinds of video.
Although the streamer reported having just finished a workout, it appears that Twitch did not follow the transition from workout stream to cooking. This seems to have led the site to believe she was cooking in what it mistook for swimwear, an activity that is ban-worthy. Given some of the hilarious ways streamers have gotten banned from Twitch, this mix-up may not be a surprise to fans. However, Meowko reports another issue that came up in her ban: the suspected use of an augmented reality avatar.
In a follow-up tweet to her first one, Meowko drew attention to one specific line that accused her of using an augmented reality avatar on stream. This by itself would not have been a problem, except that the avatar also apparently had "insufficient coverage." Judging from this complaint, it appears that Twitch somehow managed to mistake Meowko—a very real Japanese woman—for a virtual streamer's custom avatar. It's unclear how the mistake happened, but fans may find this second error less forgivable than the first one. Regardless, a significant number of Meowko's fans have replied to her tweets expressing their sympathies for the ban and wishing her happy birthday.