The big Twitch leak from two weeks ago included not only information about the earnings of various streamers. A “Do Not Ban list” has also surfaced, which apparently put certain streamers in a special position. Now, anonymous Twitch employees are speaking out about the list and say: “It’s not that bad”.
What kind of list is this? When hackers launched a major attack on the livestreaming platform Twitch, countless sensitive data was made public. Among other things, the following can be found:
- Twitch source code
- Unreleased Steam competitor named “Vapor”
- Hacking tools intended for Twitch’s security team
- Payments to the top 100 Twitch streamers
- Internal services used by Twitch
Also included was a list of streamers titled “Do Not Ban”. There were also channels on the list that fell under an extended rule: “Do not ban in any circumstance”.
Users of the platform are wondering what this list is all about.
Where do the new information about the list come from? Employees of the streaming platform want to clarify: They provide further details about the mysterious list in conversations with the Washington Post. The Twitch employees wanted to remain anonymous as they did not have their employer’s permission to disclose the information.
There is no statement from Twitch regarding the list.
This is how the “Do Not Ban list” of Twitch is supposed to be in reality
According to employees, this is what the list represents: The Do Not Ban list found by internet detectives in the data leak is said to be less severe than what the web currently assumes. According to an employee, the list is a relic of the past, over five years old, and has long been out of use.
It allegedly was not meant to give individual streamers a ban-proof vest. Rather, Twitch wanted to protect these streamers from a hasty decision by a Twitch admin. “Do not ban” meant to explore the reasons for the rule violation more closely and perhaps overlook some things.
For example, names like TimTheTatman were added to the list because they started with Just Chatting streams early on. At the time, Twitch banned all streamers who were not broadcasting video games — crazy, right?
But even partnered streamers on the “Do Not Ban” list were not completely ban-proof. Their cases were just dealt with more thoroughly.
Special status was not “You get a free pass from prison,” but “Handle with care”
What does “Do not ban in any circumstance” mean? This caused raised eyebrows: “Do not ban in any circumstance” in the list.
The status was held by Twitch co-founder and CEO Emmett Shear, which makes sense when you think about it: You really don’t want to ban the boss of the company.
Employees say about the list that it was not perfect, but far from the devil’s tool that the Twitch community holds it to be today:
It was not quite a prison-free card, but there were clearly streamers who were treated with more care than others
Anonymous Twitch employee
The employees also shared with the Washington Post during the survey that channels such as Tyler1 and RiceGum were not banned from Twitch due to the Do Not Ban list, despite some serious controversies and toxic behavior.
Tyler1 returned in 2018 after a two-year pause from League Of Legends and was suddenly the big winner on Twitch.
The reason for the special treatment were the high viewer numbers both channels received. Due to their success and importance for Twitch, the streamers enjoyed more freedoms than others – but even these freedoms were not unlimited.
Does the list still exist? According to anonymous Twitch employees, there is currently no special treatment for streamers and also no Do Not Ban list. Today, Twitch uses a new system that aims to treat all streamers fairly. This is based on objective criteria and no longer on the personal feelings of admins.
