The streaming service Twitch has banned the streamer Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev, who is considered one of the best players in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive in the world. He himself considers the ban to be a mistake. What was for him a “joking around with friends” is, however, considered by Twitch to be a hateful behavior.
What was s1mple banned for? The streamer Oleksandr Kostyliev (21) himself announced the ban from Twitch via Twitter. The ban is for “Engaging in hateful conduct against a person or group of people” – he is said to have directed hate against a person or a group of people.
Twitch does not specify the exact incident in the ban.
The streamer himself believes it is related to what he said to his teammate Boombl4 two weeks prior.
In a match on July 29, s1mple referred to his friend using the Russian term “Pidor”, which means “faggot” in German. It is a derivation of “Pädo”, meaning someone who preys on children.
This is the problem: In the situation, it was clear that the use of the term was meant as joking among friends.
Twitch does not make this distinction, but has banned the player for using the slur.
Streamer considers it joking among friends – Twitch considers it “hateful”
How long is he banned? According to information from eSports journalist Rod Breslau, s1mple has been banned for a week. He refers to sources familiar with the matter.
Interestingly, the community was already mocking the incident as it happened. Someone from the scene, in which s1mple insulted his friend, had created a meme two weeks ago saying he would surely be banned by Twitch for this remark. That is exactly what happened.
S1mple says: “Twitch is a joke” and ironically apologizes to his friend for “so much hate.”
Who is s1mple? s1mple plays AWP, that is Sniper, for the team “Natus Vincere.” He has been a professional since 2013 and made a name for himself early on. He frequently appears in rankings for Player of the Year for CS:GO and was ranked first in 2018.
On Twitch, he currently has 930,000 followers, who will have to do without him for a while.
This is what it’s about: Recently, Twitch has come under criticism for measuring with double standards. Critics accuse Twitch of banning “small streamers”, but letting larger ones get away – even if they commit offenses against cats.
Many are thus demanding that Twitch be “consistent”.
Note: The title image comes from the Facebook page of the streamer.
