Gaming - News
Twitch Under Fire For Banning These Popular Trans Streamers
By CHRISTIAN SMITH
With its iron grip on the streaming market, Twitch hasn’t always had the best reputation and has often shown its shady side, particularly when it comes to banning users. Bogus bans have cropped up in the past for frivolous or innocuous reasons, but these pale in comparison to the recent prohibitions against two transgender users, which have put the company under fire.
On July 18, 2022, trans streamer Clara “Keffals” Sorrenti posted on Twitter that she had been banned from Twitch after being raided by viewers — allegedly fans of controversial streamer Destiny — who proceeded to hurl hate speech in her direction and mass report her. Apparently, Keffals' response, where she read some of the insults on stream, is what led to the ban.
Two days later, Ian Alexander — a trans actor and streamer known for their role on "Star Trek: Discovery" — said they had been banned by Twitch after dealing with a brigade of trolls. Their Twitch channel has since been reinstated and the actor also received an apology, but as of the writing of this article, Keffals is still banned, sparking further anger from the gaming community.
