Streaming platform Twitch kept a “do not ban” list filled with popular streamers, meaning that high-profile figures on the site could not be easily banned by an admin.
As reported by Washington Post (thanks, PC Gamer), one former Twitch admin confirmed a “do not ban” list was used to prevent streamers from being suspended “for doing something dumb”.
The ‘do not ban’ list was discovered within the recent security breach at Twitch, which caused large parts of the site – including streamer’s financial earnings, source code and more – to be leaked. As part of the breach, this list – which is five years old – was found.
One Twitch employee said that while some entries on the ‘do not ban’ list were included to avoid legitimate issues such as targeted reports, others were included and given special treatment because they “got viewership” for the platform.
The employee identifies streamers RiceGum and Tyler1, both of which were on the ‘do not ban’ list. Stating that they “remember RiceGum and Tyler1 both being given way more grace than they should have been”, the employee recalled “if one of us admins reported them anyway, we were told to kick rocks and pay attention to the ‘do not ban’ list.”
On RiceGum, the employee alleged “Twitch refused to ban him outright because he got viewership”.
“It wasn’t quite a ‘get out of jail free’ card, but there were clearly some streamers who got treated with more chances or abilities than others.”
As the list is five years old, a Twitch spokesperson has confirmed that the list is outdated, and the moderation system it was used with no longer exists.
In other news, the Minecraft mob vote has a winner – the cute, cookie-fetching Allay. When the mob joins Minecraft, the bright blue spirit will bring the player gifts and help to find more of any item it is given.
The post Twitch kept a “do not ban” list to avoid punishing big streamers appeared first on NME.
