A streamer was banned by Twitch for painting her nearly naked body to look like a character from SMITE . She protests against this treatment, as Twitch had actually advocated for body painting. Moreover, she took all safety precautions, such as covering her nipples and turning up the heat.
This is the streamer in question: The streamer Forkgirl has been on Twitch since 2015 and has approximately 8600 followers on the streaming service. On average, 75 people watch her.
The streamer is a cosplayer and uses body painting for it. In the cover image, she can be seen as Psylocke.
This is why she was banned: In a conversation with Kotaku , Forkgirl said she received a message from Twitch on February 13 that her channel had been banned indefinitely for sharing or creating content that depicted nudity.
She believes she was banned for this portrayal of the goddess Persephone from SMITE:
The streamer ensures that nothing forbidden is visible
The streamer cannot understand why she was banned by Twitch, as she took extra safety measures to avoid being naked. She says she:
- puts stickers on her nipples (pasties)
- applies multiple layers of liquid latex to cover those pasties
- would leave the camera on her face and neck until her chest is painted
- keeps the heater running at 27 degrees so her “body doesn’t react to the cold”
- has her moderation team ensure that the chat stays clean and only the art is discussed, not her body
The streamer has already portrayed several well-known characters from the world of video games. Here she is as Lydia from Skyrim:
Trolls are reporting women in masses
This is her suspicion: The streamer believes that “trolls” targeted and reported her in large numbers to achieve her ban. Because there are some people who find such seemingly sexualized content from women inappropriate for Twitch and want to ban it from the streaming platform.
Other female streamers who were banned for similar reasons have also expressed this suspicion. One streamer believed she was reported and banned by trolls because of her large breasts.
It was noticeable that during the streams that served as the reason for the bans, there were statistically above-average viewers present.
However, Twitch denied the accusation in previous cases: “Brigadeering”, mass reporting, had no influence on a ban.
This is why it is sensitive: There is a statement from Twitch that body painting is okay if the context is clear: “I am doing body painting.”
Body painters on Twitch apparently relied on this statement. However, Forkgirl was banned without enjoying any special protection.
To make her position clear that she wants clarity from Twitch, Forkgirl again used body painting, where she wrote a statement from Twitch on her body, stating that users should watch her closely and hold her accountable for her actions.
The tweet received over 7000 “likes”.
Twitch has been accused for some time of not being consistent in its banning behavior. The body painting community wants clear guidelines from Twitch and demands them. The head of Twitch stated that bans always depend on context.
Twitch concedes but warns to cover the breasts
This is how Twitch responds: The uproar about the streamer has apparently led to a concession from Twitch. After several articles on the topic appeared in the US press, Forkgirl’s protest picture spread on Twitter, and a petition was launched, Twitch backed down and returned the streamer’s channel to her.
However, Twitch pointed out that her breast was not fully covered and thus violated the regulations.
Forkgirl triumphs.
However, body painters still desire clear guidelines from Twitch: The statement that “the breasts must be fully covered” is criticized as vague and strange. Twitch needs to publish specific guidelines on what is okay and what can lead to a ban, it is said under the tweet.
Cosplay has repeatedly led to conflicts. For example, a streamer was banned for cosplaying as Chun-Li and it looked too sexual. Another cosplayer was banned for painting her face black:
