Streamers banned on Twitch and Facebook Gaming find a new home on YouTube
- Banned or suspended for reasons including sexual harassment and emotional abuse, several video game streamers have found refuge on YouTube
- While YouTube has cracked down on hate speech and harassment in its channels, it is reluctant to punish behaviour that occurred on other sites or offline
When a handful of streamers were recently banned or suspended by the live-streaming platforms Twitch and Facebook following accusations of sexual harassment, their careers didn’t end. At least three streamers simply picked up and shifted their focus over to YouTube.
For streamers, YouTube is often the best available option. Though known for its short videos, YouTube is the second-largest live video-game site, trailing only Twitch, and that side of its business is growing fast.
Competition among live-streaming sites is fierce. For YouTube, part of Alphabet’s Google, there’s an advantage to letting in creators who bring along large communities of viewers. And because YouTube isn’t actively recruiting the banned streamers or signing them to contracts, it’s unlikely to incur much ire for allowing them on board, even from other creators who support the #MeToo movement.
“It does very much feel like YouTube wouldn’t really care, and that it would be a useless fight to have,” said Isabelle Briar, aka LadyNasse, a recently retired streamer who for years has called attention to the problem of harassment in the streaming industry.
A spokesperson for YouTube said that all creators are subject to the site’s policies prohibiting sexual harassment.