Twitch streamer says he was banned for talking about Israel-Palestine conflict
YouTube/MarouaneLamharziAlaouiA Twitch streamer is hitting out at Twitch after claiming the platform banned him for discussing the Israel-Palestine conflict in the Middle East.
Twitch is well-known for making some controversial ban decisions in the past and more often than not, failing to address them in the public sphere.
Now, an activist is claiming that the Amazon-owned platform took things too far and suspended his account for discussing rising tensions and problems happening in Gaza.
The streamer, who goes by Marouane A. Lamharzi on Twitter says that he was hit with a 30-day ban after he spoke about what he considered “the injustice happening in Palestine.”
After speaking about the injustice happening in Palestine, @Twitch decided to issue a 30-day ban on my channel for Targeted Hateful Conduct.
Being an activist that fights against hate speech in Morocco, I thought there was a problem in translation since I speak Moroccan dialect.— Marouane A. Lamharzi (@marouane53) May 28, 2021
“Twitch decided to issue a 30-day ban on my channel for Targeted Hateful Conduct,” he explained. “Being an activist that fights against hate speech in Morocco, I thought there was a problem in translation since I speak Moroccan dialect.”
According to the streamer, Twitch decided to uphold the ban and its duration, which surprised him considering this was his first offense.
He added that he felt like he was being silenced and that Twitch had already taken its side on the situation.
I don’t know how I can fight this, since Twitch doesn’t want to listen. The future of my streams is still in the dark, but I will let you guys know when I decide what to do.
Thank you everyone for your overwhelming support these last few days, I appreciate it so much.— Marouane A. Lamharzi (@marouane53) May 28, 2021
“I don’t know how I can fight this, since Twitch doesn’t want to listen. The future of my streams is still in the dark, but I will let you guys know when I decide what to do,” he continued. “Thank you everyone for your overwhelming support these last few days, I appreciate it so much.”
It’s unclear exactly what Lamharzi said to earn the ban, but it should be noted that Twitch does allow political discussion on its site, so it’s not like merely talking about Middle Eastern issues would warrant a suspension.
Twitch even has a full category dedicated to discussing politics, it just makes this whole situation all the more complex, just like the Israel-Palestine conflict itself.
In any case, Lamharzi will be able to return to Twitch in 30 days and hopefully he can figure out exactly why the site decided to ban him for a whole month.