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Streaming on Twitch is a great way to connect with your fans and build a following, but you must follow the platform’s rules. Otherwise, your streaming and Twitch privileges could be permanently lost.
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What happens if you get banned?
Being banned from Twitch as a content creator can be a devastating blow. Not being able to stream could be a huge loss of income. It could also leave your viewers wondering what happened. If you are lucky enough to have a strong following, you can use other social networks to let your followers know about the situation and your next plans.
One of the biggest downsides to being banned is that Twitch doesn’t have to disclose the reason. You can simply claim that you violated their terms of service and then leave it at that. This can be incredibly frustrating as you may not know what you did wrong. You can submit a ban request, but there is no guarantee it will be successful.
Twitch may issue a temporary ban, which typically lasts between 1 and 30 days. You can also issue a permanent ban, which means you’ll never be allowed to stream on the platform again. You can deactivate your account and prevent you from accessing most features of the platform, including watching other streamers, messaging in chat, and showing in someone else’s live stream.
The last one is important to remember as you could potentially ban someone else for appearing on their stream. As harsh as it sounds, you will be banned from anywhere on Twitch until you are no longer banned. Blocks are also IP based, so there is no point in creating a new account.
Inappropriate content
One of the most common reasons streamers get banned on Twitch is for broadcasting inappropriate content. This includes nudity, sexual acts, violence, weapons and illegal substances and acts. Not only can you not broadcast these things, but you also cannot encourage them in any way.
This means that you cannot talk about illegal drugs even if you don’t use them, as it can be seen as promoting them. Discussing or displaying acts of violence and threats is also prohibited, including physical and non-physical violence. You must not harass, bully, or disseminate any form of hate speech.
If you do or show something that is obviously offensive, disturbing or inappropriate, you are likely to be banned. To be on the safe side, treat your audience like children. If there’s something you don’t want a child to hear about, don’t show or say it on the stream either.
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Copyright Infringement
Regarding copyright infringement, you must follow Twitch’s Digital Millennium Copyright Act notification guidelines and music guidelines. They will give you a maximum of three strikes before permanently banning you from the platform. This includes playing unlicensed music, using someone else’s artwork, or broadcasting a film or television show without proper permission.
Even if you’re allowed to play unlicensed content or music, you probably won’t get banned for it right away. Twitch can issue your first warning and then mute copyrighted audio or disable your video-on-demand (VOD), which is a recording of your live stream. If they see you repeatedly infringing someone else’s copyright, they will issue a second and then a third warning.
Your only way around this is to play original music or something licensed to you. You can also use Soundtrack by Twitch, a curated library of music to use while streaming. Regarding content, do not show anything that you do not own or have the rights to broadcast.
illegal activity
You can also get banned from Twitch if you engage in illegal activities such as hacking, cheating in a video game, or DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attacks. This includes promoting or linking to websites that engage in these activities.
While it may be fun to download cheat software and stream yourself to beat other players, this behavior is not allowed. And of course, the more obvious illegal activities like using illegal drugs will get you the ban hammer right away.
Selling Twitch Features
Twitch offers a variety of features to help you connect with your viewers. However, you may not sell any of them. This includes things like selling your chat moderation services. Many people love moderating chats because it gives them higher status and privileges in the community. So if you try to profit from it, you will get banned.
Avoid shady tactics like paying or accepting money to hijack other channels, host someone, or give away subscriptions. Interactions and exchanges like this should happen naturally. You might get away with it for a while, but it only takes one mistake to get banned. You also rely on the other party not getting caught, which is out of your control.
Saying banal words
Believe it or not, saying certain words on Twitch can also get you banned from the platform. This is apart from the obvious racist and homophobic slurs, hate speech and other profanity. You may swear, but you may not use words that are considered too offensive due to their negative connotation.
One of those foreign words that you might not be familiar with is “easy”. It’s often used to describe someone who gives their full attention and care to another person who doesn’t usually reciprocate. It’s considered a derogatory term in the Twitch community, so don’t say or type it.
It might sound silly if you’re new to the platform, but it’s important to be aware of the words you can’t use. The community is always changing and new words are constantly being added to the list. To be safe, study the words you are not allowed to say and avoid words that could be considered overly offensive. Respect everyone’s religion, political beliefs, background, gender orientation and sexual preferences.