Twitch bans Amouranth and Indiefoxx, but for the right reasons?
Twitch bans Amouranth and Indiefoxx, but for the right reasons?
Written by Ruin Hatter
After what was one of the wildest nights on Twitch’s popular “Just Chatting” section,
Amouranth and Indiefoxx have both been banned. The exact reasons for the ban haven’t been
announced by Twitch, Amouranth or Indiefoxx. Nor how long the ban will last for, though many
in sceen have speculated it may not be more than a few days tops.
It’s not hard to understand exactly why the pair found themselves banned once again.
Neither of them are unfamiliar with controversy or being banned. Indiefoxx ferself received three
bans in one month, though one was disputed as she was only playing guitar and not violating
TOS. Amouranth has also been banned several times, the most notable as of late was a
wardrobe malfunction exposing her bare chest to the camera. The night in question the pair
seemed dead set on really seeing who could outdo the other in what has been an ongoing
rivalry between the pair.
Amouranth had long been the queen of the “Just Chatting” section and seemed
untouchable despite the section being so heavily contested. Indiefoxx who was once a fast
rising star in the section quickly made it known her intentions was to unseat the top dog. Calling
her out by name Indiefoxx vowed that she would be the top streamer in “Just Chatting”.
Amouranth, not willing to give up the lucrative audience she had cultivated, took that challenge
head on. The pair began creating meta after meta, the most recent of which is the famed “Hot
Tub meta” that would eventually go on to have Twitch make it its own category.
The hot tub streams definitely got attention and some began asking if things were
beginning to go too far. At this point the girls were writing subscribers’ names on their bodies, a
move taken directly from cam models. Along with bikinis and a questionable riding on an inflated
hotdog there seemed to be nothing these two wouldn’t do pressing the boundaries of TOS.
What seemed to be the final straw for these pair was well…unusual to say the least.
Amouranth’s stream consisted of her in her normal yoga attire donning a horse head mask and
a pigeon head. What preceded was odd behavior where she was pecking, nuzzling and well I
suppose one could say “yiffing” her mic or at least simulating it. This of course is a fetish and
falls into sexual content. This is likely what caught Amouranth the ban. Indiefoxx on the other
hand was the one that made the most shall we say noise? With a sub goal that concluded with a
live fart for reaching the goal. Indiefoxx rewarded her chat when she placed her custom ASMR
microphone to her backside and rocked the casbah. It should be noted this is the same
Indiefoxx who in a Twitter post once wrote “I’m ashamed to say Twitch is a platform that
supports lazy females selling their bodies for cash, you are teaching little girls to sell sex cuz
that’s what’s popular. Make them wear tshirts and pants. Compete on the same playing field as
men. Feminism is equality. Spread the word.” It’s an interesting take from a woman who now
caught a ban likely due to sexual content. Intent means a lot and it was Indifoxx’s Tweet to the
whole situation clearly shows what her brand is and what she’s happy to sell on the platform
“Hey
@Amouranth wanna go to a spa since we both have the weekend off? I could really use a
tongue massage.”
Neither woman was banned straight off in fact it took nearly twenty four hours for either
to be banned. So why did Twitch ban them or more appropriately what were their motivations?
While Twitch has on many occasions shown that they have the ability to shut down a channel
quite fast. So the question is what took so long for Twitch to react. The evidence of what they
had done was there. Even if each girl had deleted the VOD from the channel it was already
being clipped and scorned from viewers and fellow streamers alike. It was most honestly due to
the very public outcry. The streaming community, male and female alike, big streamers and
small all began to speak out. The frustration was palatable from female streamers tired of the
stereotypes this kind of content has caused but its continued escalation to reducing female
streamers to cam models to be only appreciated for their bodies. The community cried out that it
was tired of not having a platform anymore. In an internet dominated by adult material, Twitch
was meant as a space for games and gamers. Even its evolution to include art and music was
welcomed by many. Here true creators with talent and desire could find a home. Where a
woman that can paint the most beautiful of pictures or play a lovely song on the piano can do so
without the concern if her top is revealing enough to get attention.
It’s not so ironic that right now Miller Lite is partnered with Twitch to rise up
women in gaming. A preroll/midroll ad shows four female streamers opening cans of Miller Lite
and explaining how women aren’t yet accepted into gaming. One woman looks at the camera
explaining it’s not just women but how “we”, assuming that being men as we make the majority
of the Twitch viewing audience, have to do something to make things better. Another claims
about having to push back ignorance. Yet until just now women like Amouranth and Indiefoxx
were upheld. Defended as women just hustling and grinding to get paid. To make that money.
The problem is that easy money never is. Depending on how it’s obtained it can create an
image even one that is not desirable. I see more and more female streamers standing up
wanting to be able to play games, do their art in normal everyday clothes and be appreciated
and accepted for what they do. They should be as well. The fingers have begun to point
because there’s something else here on the line, something that could affect every streamer on
the platform and I think Onepeg said it best in a recent Tweet “Re: asmr fart streamers. I give
zero shits if these ladies found a loophole to the extent that they’re getting paid. HOWEVER I
DO CARE that twitch as a platform is gonna lose a ton of potential advertisers and our collective
CPM is gonna get fucking nuked. They gotta stop it”
When things got too spicy on YouTube advertisers began pulling out in droves. To afraid
of getting their brands dragged into a controversy, advertisers just took their money elsewhere.
The YouTube adpocalipse, as it was called, hurt creators across the entire platform. Much of the
money that goes to creators comes from ads and from direct sponsorships. With advertisers
pulling out that revenue dried up leaving only those top creators able to make money. YouTube
was forced to crack down hard across the entire platform to clean up content. In many ways
YouTube has ofen overcorrected making matters worse or ignoring the real issue at hand, but
has been scrubbed clean enough that it’s been able to woo advertisers back.
Twitch has been able to woo more and more advertisers to the site, but given the
direction it’s going it seems inevitable that Twitch will have an adpocalipse of its own that could
devastate a large number of its creators. Twitchs decision wasn’t based on what’s best for the
site and its creators. It was about enough public outrage that forced a hand to take action. How
long these girls are banned for and the slow hand that was finally forced to take actions will
show how serious Twitch is about reigning this site in.
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