The V-tuber Silvervale streams the game Hogwarts Legacy on Twitch. This led to a controversy. Users on Twitter assumed that she had banned the word “Trans” in her Twitch chat: A wave of negative, hateful reactions came her way. In a broadcast from February 17, the streamer breaks down in tears. After Twitch streamer Asmongold brought the case to light, the clip went viral.
Why was there so much fuss against this streamer?
- The streamer Silvervale showcased Hogwarts Legacy, the new Harry Potter game, in 3 streams from February 9 to 11. There is a controversy surrounding the game: Some people are calling for a boycott of the role-playing game due to statements made by the author J.K. Rowling, which are seen as transphobic.
- As people came into her Twitch chat and criticized and insulted her for showing the game, a conflict surrounding Silvervale escalated. In the following days, she became a lightning rod for some users on English-speaking Twitter. Under her tweets, which had nothing to do with Hogwarts Legacy, she was attacked, being called a TERF (trans-exclusionary radical feminist).
- The conflict escalated when users got the impression that streamer Silvervale had blacklisted the word “Trans” in her Twitch chat.
Controversy over Twitch moderation of the word “Trans” turns her into a figure of hate
What was the problem? As the streamer explains, the word “Trans” was not intentionally blacklisted by her but flagged by Auto-Mod at Twitch as “must be reviewed”.
The streamer says: She doesn’t understand why people believe she has transphobic views, but it hurts her deeply.
She has always spoken out for the LGBT community and this is now too much for her to handle.
The streamer was burdened that even under tweets for Valentine’s Day she was confronted and attacked with the theme:
“So much hate for a damn video game”
This is the clip: In a stream from February 17, the streamer attempts to respond to the overwhelming hate that has poured on her in recent days.
She says she received death threats, was harassed and doxxed, and even her friends were doxxed. Terrible, awful things have happened. And all because she showed a “fucking video game”.
The streamer is completely distraught in the Twitch clip and hard to understand:
Asmongold outraged over the incident – clip goes viral
How did the clip become so popular? One of the biggest streamers on Twitch, Asmongold, has dealt extensively with the topic. In a clip from his stream on February 17, you can see the hateful tweets to which Silvervale reacted in the video (via youtube).
He clarified that it apparently all stemmed from a misunderstanding caused by Twitch’s Auto-Bot. Asmongold describes the hate directed at the Vtuber as almost animalistic.
“She knew the consequences when she showed the game.”
What do others say about the conflict? In fact, there are some voices on Twitter saying: Silvervale deserves no sympathy: Trans* people are doxxed and killed just for existing. In the case of Silvervale, there is not even a confirmation that she was really doxxed.
It is said: “She knew the consequences” of what happens when one shows the game and then the word “Trans*” gets flagged by auto-mod.
The lines seem to be drawn here:
Hogwarts Legacy: Boycott callers drive streamer to despair – 2 Twitch stars react brutally
