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Twitch bans female streamer for Chun-Li cosplay

The streaming giant Twitch has banned another content creator under its vague and selectively enforced content guidelines.

Chris Jarrard

September 16, 2019 12:55 PM

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Another week and another controversy for the streaming platform Twitch has come along. This time, the drama surrounds art streamer Quqco, who has been suspended from the service following a stream in which she cosplayed Street Fighter’s Chun Li. 

The three-day suspension was the result of violating Twitch’s content creator guidelines by broadcasting “sexually suggestive content or activities,” according to an email from Twitch that Quqco posted to her Twitter account. On the surface, the suspension seems odd as the outfit is not particularly revealing (only showing a portion of exposed thighs) and much more conservative than the attire for many of Twitch’s top creators.

Quqco had previously been suspended from Twitch after cosplaying Mai Shiranui from The King of Fighters. She believed at the time that the suspension was a direct result of brigading by members of Livestreamfail, a popular community on Reddit. This community is most known for gathering and sharing clips of embarrassing, funny, or noteworthy content that happens across various streaming platforms. According to a report from Kotaku, Quqco has been sexually harassed by a group from the subreddit and she suspects that some of the same folks have been reporting her stream to Twitch to continue the harassment.

In recent years, a group of Twitch viewers has taken it upon themselves to police the site in an effort to protect viewers from the harms of possibly seeing parts of the human body. While these users claim that their work is to ensure streamers stay within Twitch’s vague guidelines, the reports and interactions predictably target female streamers by an overwhelming majority. 

While Quqco’s current situation cannot be directly tied to any specific community or group, it is a safe bet to assume that this type of harassment will continue under Twitch’s current policies.

Chris Jarrard

Contributing Tech Editor

Chris Jarrard likes playing games, crankin' tunes, and looking for fights on obscure online message boards. He understands that breakfast food is the only true food. Don't @ him.