Pokimane Twitch Ban Called Out By Former Director As "Stupid"

Former Twitch director of creator development, Marcus ‘djWHEAT’ Graham, has blasted Imane ‘Pokimane’ Anys' sudden ban from earlier this year as among the "stupidest" he's ever seen on the platform.

As you may be aware, Anys was hit with a ban from Twitch in early January as a result of watching Avatar: The Last Airbender live on stream. This is part of Twitch's divisive new "TV show meta" in which streamers will literally broadcast themselves watching TV.

Obviously, streaming a TV show filled with content you don't own to millions of followers could - and often does - lead to DMCA takedowns. It's believed Anys fell foul of one such strike at the start of the year, which led to her first ever ban from Twitch.

While the ban was only temporary and Anys is back to doing what she does best, Graham believes that it was incredibly foolish of her to have ever risked it in the first place.

“It still goes down as one of the stupidest things I’ve ever seen on Twitch!” he said during a recent stream. “Like, literally. Not afraid to say it. Was shocked that someone as large as Poki and as representative as a role model and runs a talent agency… actually one of the stupidest f**king things I’ve seen in the history of the platform. I could never understand why anyone would ever take the risk. I don’t get it."

Graham went on to explain that Twitch is in a strange spot when it comes to banning streamers, arguing that those that get banned can ultimately spin the punishment for further publicity and profit.

“This is a huge problem when it comes to Twitch, when it comes to moderation, when it comes to enforcement, when it comes to punishment,” he said. “Twitch does need creators, does need the revenue that comes from creators’ audiences. So it’s a weird spot Twitch gets put into. It’s f**ked that someone can get banned and come back and get 5,000 subs!”