The German Twitch community has created a server for the survival MMO Rust. An incident occurred there on Saturday: A female streamer was sexually harassed. This led to a conflict on Twitter that continued to escalate. German-speaking streamers like Handofblood, Lara Loft, Tinkerleo, Shurjoka, or fisHC0p have come under fire from a trolling network.
This was the original conflict: On Saturday evening, the German Twitch event for Rust started. The streamer Tinkerleo was asked by another streamer: “Do you want to sit on my face?”
The incident itself was quickly resolved: The streamer apologized for his inappropriate comment. That was not okay. The streamer was banned from the Rust server for one day.
But the incident triggered a heated discussion on Twitter:
Some spoke up: The female streamer shouldn’t be so sensitive. In gaming, people talk like that. She was ruining the fun with her behavior – anyone who puts themselves out there on the internet has to deal with it.
The female streamer was repeatedly confronted with the incident in her Twitch chat. Other streamers mocked the incident, and memes and comments circulated.
Yet many players on Twitter supported the female streamer, saying that such behavior is simply unacceptable. There is nothing funny about it. That is sexual harassment.
Some big streamers also took a stand, first and foremost the German influencer Handofblood, even though he was not involved in the Rust event. Handofblood said: We need to discuss this openly and take a stand.
Sexual harassment is a part of gaming life, and it must stop: “We find girls really cool and unfortunately regularly see that they are harassed and disadvantaged.”
As a result, some women thanked Handofblood. Many would shy away from such topics because they fear trouble, but he would take a stand.
Handofblood in conflict with a right-wing populist troll network
This is what happened next: The original incident and the discussion about it took place on Saturday evening, January 9.
Already on January 10, Handofblood said he had become a target of a troll network, which was now massively attacking him in Twitter comments.
On January 11, Handofblood stated that he had banned many people on Twitter using a tool. Through Twitter Block Chain, people were banned who followed certain accounts.
Handofblood explained that he had been massively harassed since Saturday evening and had the choice to either disappear from Twitch and leave the field to others or to counter with bans.
This is now the new escalation stage: Last night, on Wednesday, January 13, several influencers reported that they had also been harassed in real life:
- Several influencers reported receiving phone calls and being threatened by a voice that was distorted to disguise it. The calls allegedly came from other German influencers.
- In addition, a massive number of false orders were placed through the delivery service Lieferando.
Those affected include streamers: Handofblood, Lara Loft, Shurjoka, Tinkerleo, and fisHC0p.
Tinkerleo explained that the incident was so uncomfortable for her because the false orders would now affect restaurants that are grateful for every order during the Corona pandemic, only to be disappointed later. Because they went out for nothing, because some troll finds it funny.
Handofblood has apparently contacted the police right away. When he was advised to also involve the Federal Network Agency to catch spoofers, he replied: “I’m already much further ahead.”
He warned other influencers last night, not to answer the phone if they are called from his number.
Shurjoka says there are people sending photos of her as a minor. It is a disgrace what is happening right now. But she would again take a stand against sexual harassment.
The streamer fisHCOP says the little troll should feel free to call him again and tell him about his group. He only understood “Lego” and “building blocks.”
The operator of the German Rust server has also drawn consequences and has temporarily ordered a pause while new rules are being created. The server is expected to start again on Friday or Saturday. In the meantime, the German YouTuber StandartSkill has opened his own server for Rust:
Server for Rust is a huge hit on Twitch, going offline for now: “I am very disappointed”
