The aftermath of DrDisrespect’s ban has now led Twitch to emphasize how strictly they moderate and how well they protect their streamers. From a German perspective, this seems cynical when looking at the drama surrounding the streamer Shurjoka, who has repeatedly asked Twitch Support for help and complained that she was met with silence.
This is the situation surrounding DrDisrespect:
- The streamer DrDisrespect was permanently banned from Twitch in 2020. His lucrative exclusive contract was terminated. The reasons for the ban remained unclear for four years.
- DrDisrespect sued Twitch. In March 2022, an arbitration process determined that neither side had done anything unlawful. DrDisrespect’s contract was fully paid out. However, after this ban, DrDisrespect did not receive any further offers from platforms and lost many advertising deals.
- In recent weeks, the reasons for the ban have come to light: DrDisrespect had exchanged inappropriate messages via Twitch’s Whisper system with a then 17-year-old girl in 2017, resulting in his ban and being reported to authorities.
Since the circumstances of the ban became known, DrDisrespect’s career has apparently come to an end. His gaming studio has parted ways with him, partners have ended their connections and even YouTube has demonetized him.
This was the state of knowledge regarding DrDisrespect’s ban for many years:
Twitch explains: “No place for harassment”
This is what Twitch says now: Twitch was asked by Eurogamer if they would comment on the “DrDisrespect” case. They received a “No comment” in response.
But Twitch also emphasized how important streamer safety on their platform is to them:
“Harassment has no place on Twitch, we take the enforcement of our policies against hateful behavior and harassment very seriously,” a spokesperson said.
This is how content is moderated 24/7. And they continue to work on better protecting streamers.
This is why this seems cynical from a German perspective: In Germany, there has been a dispute over the Twitch streamer Shurjoka for more than a year.
She accuses a number of male Twitch streamers, whom she calls the “Boys’ Club”, of running a targeted harassment campaign and profiting financially from it. Hundreds of videos about her have been created, which borders on obsession.
The accused streamers deny this and mock the allegations in videos, claiming to start an “anti-feminist hate campaign”. In their view, “Shurjoka is just lost”, has “L-takes” and one can make good money by “criticizing her in a purely factual manner”.
Shurjoka has repeatedly asked Twitch Support to look into the case and protect her. She has publicly lamented that this protection is lacking.
The story has become increasingly absurd in recent months:
- One of the creators said he wanted to have Shurjoka “committed for her protection” (via twitter)
- Shurjoka has sarcastically hinted that she knows the identity of a currently anonymous content creator: He is not as anonymous as he thinks. This was interpreted as a threat to make his private information public – it is referred to as “doxxing”.
- Furthermore, the parties are now suing each other in dozens of processes.
Twitch bans a streamer – but he simply sues back
Does Twitch protect its streamers? In a particularly egregious case in December 2023, from which even his colleagues distanced themselves, a streamer made fun of the complaints of the female streamer during a “drunken stream” on Twitch, stating: “The Twitch support doesn’t give a shit about you.”
Twitch appears aimless in court and loses
Ultimately, the streamer was indeed banned from Twitch. However, he was able to come back to Twitch after a short period by suing because Twitch committed several procedural errors during the ban, which the streamer found amusing.
For instance, they should have warned him in advance and specified the exact reason for the ban.
According to court observers, Twitch’s lawyers appeared aimless in court and solely pursued the strategy that a German court was not competent at all. When this strategy failed, the lawyers could not clearly state for which statements the streamer had been banned, and he triumphantly celebrated his return to Twitch.
The fact that Twitch takes the protection of its creators so seriously and moderates content 24/7 is at least not reflected in the actions described in Germany.
In April 2024, Shurjoka criticized Twitch again for being inactive in her case and that Twitch rejected reports to support without reading them. This was about another streamer who had posted, among other things, torture fantasies about her: Germany’s Player of the Year accuses Twitch
