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Twitch bans streamer after she openly discusses her online abuse

Streamer "Keffals" was banned on Twitch after attempting to share examples of some of the abuse she's been receiving on the platform.

Morgan Shaver

July 21, 2022 1:00 PM

Image: Dot Esports, Keffals

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Twitch is no stranger to controversial bans, with one particularly egregious example being that of streamer Clara “Keffals” Sorrenti. As reported by outlets like Kotaku, Sorrenti received a ban on Twitch after attempting to share examples of some of the abuse she’s received on the platform during a recent livestream. Sorrenti later appealed the ban, but Twitch was not swayed and a ban of 28 days remains in place, regardless of the context behind the situation.

“My account got mass reported before I even started and I am banned from Twitch. I’ll do the stream on YouTube instead. You can’t fucking stop me,” Sorrenti wrote on Twitter. "Twitch banned one of their biggest transgender streamers from their website for openly talking about the abuse they receive. I do not understand how they managed to fuck up so badly." 

In another tweet, Sorrenti noted that, “Twitch rejected my appeal. I am banned for another 28 days for displaying a list of hateful slurs that were actually hurled at me by bigots in order to illustrate the kind of harassment I receive for being an openly trans Twitch streamer. I have never been this disappointed.”

My account got mass reported before I even started and I am banned from Twitch. I'll do the stream on YouTube instead. You can't fucking stop me.

— keffals (@keffals) July 18, 2022

As for why Sorrenti was banned in the first place, the reason cited was for “repeated hateful slurs or symbols” which existed in the livestream’s thumbnail, and were in reference to past comments directed towards her. Among the subject matter planned for the stream was also how individuals, like the controversial political streamer Steven “Destiny” Bonnell, have been actively weaponizing their supporters on Kiwi Farms to harass her.

In order to get this information out as originally intended, Sorrenti has re-edited the stream and posted it to YouTube with the title referencing streamer Destiny and his Kiwi Farms connections. The video is watchable to members of her YouTube channel, and helps provide further clarification on the situation.

Diving even deeper into why Sorrenti has been receiving harassment from figures like Steven “Destiny” Bonnell, as noted by Kotaku and the Washington Post, she’s rapidly risen in popularity on Twitch through livestreams that passionately tackle and debunk right-wing attacks on transgender and queer people, such as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill in Florida.

“I don’t think civility politics works when I’m engaging with people who don’t even view me as human,” Sorrenti is quoted in the Washington Post article. To learn more about Sorrenti, the full article from WaPo is certainly worth a read, as is the article from Kotaku on Sorrenti’s recent ban.

Overall, it’ll be interesting to see over the next 28 days whether Twitch has a change of heart and reverses the ban, or if they continue to uphold it despite the context, especially for others who may be considering sharing their stories of similar harassment they’ve received as well.

Morgan Shaver

Senior Editor

Morgan is a writer from the frozen wastelands of Maine who enjoys metal music, kpop, horror, and indie games. They're also a Tetris fanatic who's fiercely competitive in games like Tetris 99... and all games in general. But mostly Tetris. You can follow Morgan on Twitter @Author_MShaver.