Image/Twitch
Twitch streamer SmaK was suddenly banned for 30 days after making a joke during a recent livestream. The streamer said the ban came just moments after he made comments about wanting to “go away” while talking about strange messages he had been reading in his chat. The suspension quickly became confusing because SmaK said he was not actually talking about harming himself. He later revealed that Twitch had removed the ban and apologized for what happened. The incident has once again raised questions about how Twitch’s automated moderation system handles comments made during livestreams.
Twitch streamer SmaK hit with sudden 30-day Twitch ban after joking about needing to go away
The incident happened on July 31 while SmaK was live on Twitch. During the stream, he was reading unusual messages from his chat when he started joking about not wanting to stream anymore.SmaK said, “I need to not exist in this world anymore,” before adding that he needed to “go away for a long time.” He explained that he had been seeing and hearing so much strange content every day that he did not know if he could handle it anymore. Soon after making the comments, SmaK said he was hit with a 30-day Twitch ban.The streamer believed the suspension may have come from an automated system. He later suggested on X that the system could cause similar problems for other streamers if certain words or phrases are automatically flagged without enough context. The sudden suspension was especially surprising because SmaK said the comments were made as a joke while he was reacting to his livestream chat.The incident also brought attention to the different ways Twitch handles rule violations. Twitch has faced criticism in the past over bans and suspensions, with some creators receiving short or long punishments depending on the situation.
Twitch apologizes to SmaK and removes 30-day suspension
The situation did not last long. As the clip and news about the ban began spreading online, SmaK revealed that Twitch had removed his suspension. The streamer also said Twitch apologized to him and admitted that the ban was a mistake. However, SmaK did not explain exactly what caused the suspension or which part of the platform’s system triggered it.SmaK later returned to streaming on Friday. He said he did not expect Twitch to apologize, which made the situation even more surprising for him.The streamer also pointed out that he often talks about killing himself in video games while playing. In those cases, the comments are about the game and are not meant as real-life statements.The incident shows how difficult it can be for automated moderation tools to understand jokes and context during fast-moving livestreams. While Twitch eventually fixed the mistake, the 30-day ban could have kept SmaK away from his channel for an entire month.For now, SmaK is back on Twitch after the platform reversed the ban and apologized for the mistake.
