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[Relaxed Muscle]

Maybe I just didn't see enough of what was going on.
From what I have seen it doesn't look like reddit actively censored anything.
I still think reddit was flooded by a lot of fake users/trolls which caused a lot of threads to be deleted.
I really can't see why something like this would draw so much attention on it's own.

As far as I can see what happened was:
Some streamer got his emotes removed due to copyright claims.
Another streamer thought it is not just since Horror has an inappropriate emote as well, which isn't removed since he is a mod. So he decided it would be OK to make fun of Horror by telling a sexist joke (apparently this is considered normal behaviour by twitch users). So he got banned.
Lots of fans decided to defend their favorite streamer by harassing Horror and some got banned as well.
I am not saying that Horror was right or wrong . I don't think it's even relevant. The main issue here is how it was handled by the rest of the twitch staff. Instead of trying to diffuse the situation they let and even encouraged it to escalate.

Edit:
http://i.imgur.com/G1RMsbo.png

That's an interesting view of the matters:

Another streamer thought it is not just since Horror has an inappropiate emote as well, which isn't removed since he is a mod

The problem is that it wasn't appropiate, but the fact it was a global emote, something that is almost a privilege in Twitch, some of the most famous streamers dosn't have one and they have been asking for it. Horror boyfriend, which no one knows, gets one because he's his boyfriend, and Horror is lead admin on Twitch, he's getting paid for choosing what emotes are approved. The fact that the emote was,possibly, inappropiate is just the final touch.

So he decided it would be OK to make fun of Horror by telling a sexist joke (apparently this is considered normal behaviour by twitch users). So he got banned.

No one denies it was on poor taste, but it was a joke and Horror decided to throw an IP ban, that's the death sentence on Twitch. It was an extreme way of handle things.

Lots of fans decided to defend their favorite streamer by harassing Horror and some got banned as well.

Horror had already quite a bad fame before all this, it was the last straw of his abussing powers. And a few people starting the harass, but in just started with a normal petition, Removehorror, there's no harassing, people are just expressing an opinion and asking Twitch to fire Horror for his unproffesional behaviour. Twitch mods, decided that they won't allow people expressing an opinion because some people are acting in a offensive way, instead of just dealing with those people individually and starts banning streamers in a way to stop the complaints instead of listening to them and reacting properly.

Is like on a protest the police started using bombs against all the people instead of dealing with the violent ones.

 

[2San]

I dunno, I used to see Xkeeper around tasvideos a lot when I went there, and he often came off as a dick (banned a few times if I remember correctly too). Doesn't look like that has changed.

I haven't heard of him before this drama, but using an edited rom is pretty funny if you ask me.

 

[ThaneKrios]

Wow, almost 20 pages. I had no ideia that whatching people playing videogames on the internet was such a big deal.

 

[Faustek]

So is it still not ok to post porn, underage cartoon porn at that to twitch? or didn't that happen?

Does this mean that I'll start seeing more good streams on UStream or does that still suck?

Who the hell is lying and who is telling the truth?

 

[2San]

Wow, almost 20 pages. I had no ideia that whatching people playing videogames on the internet was such a big deal.

You think that the PS4 and XB1 have streaming options just for the hell of it?

 

[ab.aeterno]

No one denies it was on poor taste, but it was a joke and Horror decided to throw an IP ban, that's the death sentence on Twitch. It was an extreme way of handle things.

What? People in this very thread have said just that -- that it was fine and harmless and not offensive, really.

 

[D Bo Chops]

Does anybody here remember the xbox admin with the gamertag "The Pro". He abused his power and everyone was making vids of him throwing around ridiculous account and console bans. it was a huge deal... never found out what happened to "The Pro" I just know hes not around anymore.

 

[rrs]

I dunno, I used to see Xkeeper around tasvideos a lot when I went there, and he often came off as a dick (banned a few times if I remember correctly too). Doesn't look like that has changed.

That's a separate bag of drama, which I think was related to the owner making some crappy emulator and saying you have to use it to put runs on the website.

Wow, almost 20 pages. I had no ideia that whatching people playing videogames on the internet was such a big deal.

It's way more than about that now. We had twitch admins flat out say they are trying to remove posts on reddit about the accident, admins going on a banning spree of horror related crap, and from everywhere toxic anti-furry telephone game shit. Twitch opened up padorda's box over an admin that was the punchline to a joke taken the wrong way.

 

[sophora]

So is it still not ok to post porn, underage cartoon porn at that to twitch? or didn't that happen?

Does this mean that I'll start seeing more good streams on UStream or does that still suck?

Who the hell is lying and who is telling the truth?

This feels like a really bad game of telephone.

 

[Lord Phol]

There are few things that make my blood boil more than people abusing power, especially when they are untouchable. I do not feel like using twitch anymore seeing how badly this has been handled and how things are being run there. At least on gaf I'll know that if I ever get a ban it will be becauase I most likely deserved it.

I also found it silly to be that upset over a joke, though the one making the joke should have expected the consequences.

 

[Faustek]

This feels like a really bad game of telephone.

Yepp, going to reddit, Googling, Twitter and reading GAF seems like something has been left out. I missed a lot.

 

[Relaxed Muscle]

What? People in this very thread have said just that -- that it was fine and harmless and not offensive, really.

Those people are wrong, dosn't change the fact that Horror handled the situation very poorly and unproffesionally.

 

[Wes]

RAISE YOUR PITCHFORKS

 

[Dr. Hoofington]

Might be worth it to consider the the problem from the perspective of FuzzyOtterBalls, one of the Twitch admin:

Disclaimer: this does not constitute an official Twitch response. I am an employee of Twitch attempting to present facts which may be unknown to the general public. I hope the larger community would appreciate some clarifications for context. EDIT: This post isn't intended to address the merits of any specific bans. Those are being sorted out right now by another team.

• Twitch admins are not paid employees, but community volunteers who police site behavior. They are different from Twitch Staff members who are indeed employees. Twitch admins in no way speak for Twitch as a company any more than a subreddit's mods speak for reddit (though Twitch admins' moderation powers are farther-reaching).

EDIT: Admins do not have the power to close partner channels. Those closures must be conducted by a staff member. This comparison is to highlight that both subreddit mods and Twitch admins, while given more power than standard users, are volunteers and do not represent the company for which they moderate.

• To my knowledge, Twitch did not contact reddit in any official or unofficial capacity to request thread removal. The actions misrepresented here as an official Twitch request were undertaken by one of the volunteers of his own volition and not at all under direction from Twitch.

EDIT: Confirmation from an /r/Gaming mod stating the thread was locked 10 minutes prior to receiving the message from a Twitch volunteer admin.

• Removal of Twitch streamer Cyghfer's subscriber emotes came when we received reports they weren't original art, which is one of the prerequisites for a subscriber emoticon. One of the job functions of the lead admin is to handle subscription emote submissions, so it fell to him to remove it. It is unrelated to the other issues.
  
• The Twitch admin who banned the speedrunner for making an off-color joke is the lead admin of Twitch, and is the only admin who is also a paid employee of Twitch.
  
• Other members of the speedrunning community took to Twitch to demand the unbanning of other speedrunners while simultaneously petitioning for the removal of Twitch's lead admin.
  
• It is not against the Twitch Terms of Service to to express an opinion, even one critical of Twitch. However, it is explicitly against the Terms of Service (Section 12.i) to "defame, harass, abuse, threaten or defraud Users of the Twitch Service", admins and Staff also falling under the category of "Twitch User".
  
• As a result of this movement, the lead Twitch admin became the target of a coordinated harassment campaign that included, among other things, use of the Twitch service by broadcasters to encourage viewers to personally attack Twitch's lead admin and his then-boyfriend via social media. You can peek at his Twitter @ mentions for a sampling of the harassment endured.
  
• Not every broadcaster participating in the coordinated petition was also encouraging harassment. Behavior ran the gamut from personally directing attacks to not making a reasonable effort to stop their chat from carrying out attacks to actively attempting to prevent the harassment from occurring.
  
• Unfortunately, all the petitioners were using the same slogan to rally viewers and support, which resulted in the mass of unruly users moving en masse from chat to chat while conducting their harassment. Admins followed and asked broadcasters to, among other things, remove the slogan in an effort to stave off the problematic users. The intention was not to stifle opinion, but to halt the harassment.
  
• Some broadcasters were understanding and complied to help defuse the situation. Others were either already participating in the harassment or were swept up by their sudden influx of users and adopted their stance, becoming combative themselves.
  
• It is very unclear after the fact where each of the bans issued last night falls, and our admin team is still sorting through the unban requests. At time of writing, I have unbanned werster, duke bilgewater, and have reached out to peaches regarding unbanning, but have yet to hear back. I do not know if any of the other streamers have been unbanned or had their ban appeals rejected.

We're still sorting through this mess, and the important takeaway is there's not just two sides. It's a spectrum between the various broadcasters, viewers, and even among the Twitch staff and admins. I expect to see some changes come from this and other existing moderation plans accelerated as a result. However, I am not able to share specifics regarding those plans or their timeline.

 

[RooMHM]

Well at least Fuzzy seems reasonable and wise enough to accept discussion.
But I m not sure this isn t pure paranoiac or hyperbolic comment on the situation

As a result of this movement, the lead Twitch admin became the target of a coordinated harassment campaign

 

[poopninjamvc3mk]

Lol call Kotaku? Funny how whenever the FGC does little small things after the big exaggerated cross assault incident Kotaku is always on it, but when the another community is going through drama, Kotaku is never to be found.

 

[Sendou]

I can't believe how badly this was handled (and is continued being handled).

 

[Soodanim]

I don't see what is so bad about the line that started the whole affair. It sounds like Horror needs to calm down and grow up, and Twitch need to have a rethink about who they give power to. Especially given the influx of users/traffic they will get this generation.

 

[ab.aeterno]

Those people are wrong, dosn't change the fact that Horror handled the situation very poorly and unproffesionally.

I never said it did, I was just calling out this characterization of the situation (everyone totally thinks the joke crossed the line and was inappropriate) as bullshit. It was a poor generalization that's not true.

 

[Archie]

RAISE YOUR PITCHFORKS

༼ つ ◕_◕ ༽つ Give PITCHFORKS

 

[Dr. Hoofington]

Well at least Fuzzy seems reasonable and wise enough to accept discussion.

Yeah, Fuzzy is the same admin who hung out with Abahbob for an hour or so, discussing the events over Skype and leaving the stream without banning anyone.

But I m not sure this isn t pure paranoiac or hyperbolic comment on the situation

I don't think its totally paranoiac given the way that information circulates on Twitch. Take, for example, how often this thread has been derailed by furry-bashing instead of focusing on the actual issues at stake (e.g. admin abuse, streamer's rights, and Twitch's corporate structure). One of the things I'm sure Twitch is dealing with is how to control the fast-paced meme culture of live chat. As we've seen, a vocal minority can mobilize chat quickly and a lightning rod meme like "REMOVE HORROR" can change the texture of chat across the site.

That said, I think the PR nightmare is going to have more lasting effects than anything else. Most speedrunners have had nothing to do with this, so it's not as if the whole community is migrating off Twitch. Trihex, Bonesaw, and BJW all got PB's yesterday during the hubbub. Those in this thread worried about the status AGDQ or Cosmo are overreacting. Some runners may migrate to Hitbox, which I think would be good test to see if we can diversify the streaming world. Sites like SRL may become even more valuable if they can link video from multiple sources.

 

[ShadyJ]

Horror of a modding situation

 

[EsotericManiac]

If the owner already stated he's not going to do anything about it, why would keep on barking up that tree?

It makes more sense to go elsewhere, like Ustream.

 

[Booter]

after reading up on the situation, Twitch needs to remove Horror asap. adding global furry emotes of their significant other is something an admin should not do. that's so so so not what an admin should do.

 

[Lost Fragment]

Well at least Fuzzy seems reasonable and wise enough to accept discussion.
But I m not sure this isn t pure paranoiac or hyperbolic comment on the situation

Banning people who engaged in or abetted legit harassment is 100% understandable, and I'm sure that there are a lot of bans that were well deserved.

But mass banning people just for naming a stream "remove horror" or whatever is completely unacceptable. People aren't allowed to express dissenting opinions just because some people are jerks about it? Give me a fucking break, Twitch.

Fuzzy is a cool dude, though, and it's nice to hear a level-headed response from someone at Twitch. It'd be nice if their official response includes them admitting they fucked up, but I'm not holding my breath. Probably gonna be some non-apology PR bullshit. Fucking hate how nobody these days can simply "yo we did this shit and it was a mistake, sry" when they do somethiong dumb.

 

[PartTimeWarrior]

https://twitter.com/TwitchTVSupport/status/403549458555604992

Hmm

 

[Professor Lich]

RAISE YOUR PITCHFORKS

༼ つ ◕_◕ ༽つ Give PITCHFORKS

Thanks for the laughs.

Still surprised there is no corporate response to this. I feel like whoever owns Twitch must know about this and not talking about it just going to make it worse.

And it's not like it'll be hidden forever. If there's a large tournament going, and nothing has changed, you know people are going to be spam talking about this, like stream monsters do, and others will Google and search to find what it's about, and I think it'll spread from there.

 

[Recall]

Remember guys Twitch is never at fault. Never.

Kappa.png

 

[Alienous]

Nuke it, start over.

 

[stump sock]

http://www.reddit.com/r/Games/comments/1r49at/twitch_admin_bans_speedrunner_for_making_joke/cdjjgzw

Was this posted? Comment from Twitch employee. Some interesting insight into the way Twitch operates; apparently admins are NOT employees (except for Horror) and the guy colluding with the Reddit admin for censorship is an unpaid volunteer.

what a mess.

 

[snack]

Twitch know they in deep trubs now!

 

[Valonquar]

Seems like a really horrible bit of timing to cause this sort of drama right smack dab in the middle of the next gen console launches. This is especially bad since it was the LEAD admin, and was an actual paid employee.

Then again, we have congressmen doing crack in office so, I guess people are just fucking idiots everywhere.

 

[DataGhost]

Wow, I hope action will be taken, but knowing Twitch, they probably won't do anything

 

[Grimm Fandango]

Seems like a really horrible bit of timing to cause this sort of drama right smack dab in the middle of the next gen console launches. This is especially bad since it was the LEAD admin, and was an actual paid employee.

Then again, we have congressmen doing crack in office so, I guess people are just fucking idiots everywhere.

He isn't a paid employee, see the above Reddit thread.

edit: disregard I cannot read

 

[Lost Fragment]

He isn't a paid employee, see the above Reddit thread.

Horror, indeed, is a paid employee.

The ones who wanted to censor Reddit are not.

 

[DataGhost]

Horror, indeed, is a paid employee.

The ones who wanted to censor Reddit are not.

Wait, twitch admins are reddit mods? Holy crap

 

[Queen of Hunting]

someone else took over the twitch twitter because thats a sudden change in attitude ?

 

[Grimm Fandango]

Horror, indeed, is a paid employee.

The ones who wanted to censor Reddit are not.

Oops you're right my bad.

 

[Lost Fragment]

Wait, twitch admins are reddit mods? Holy crap

Yeah totally bro.

someone else took over the twitch twitter because thats a sudden change in attitude ?

Multiple people have access to the account, I'd bet.

 

[Parallax Scroll]

I thought reddit was about free speech above all else? That was their excuse for leaving the child porn subreddits up for so long.

 

[livestOne]

Wait, twitch admins are reddit mods? Holy crap

No they're just really bad at hiding their collusion's, big companies usually figure that out before things get exposed.

 

[Lost Fragment]

I thought reddit was about free speech above all else? That was their excuse for leaving the child porn subreddits up for so long.

"Free speech" in regards to what kind of subreddits people want to create and how the managers of those subreddits want to manage, yeah.

 

[Goldenmoney]

I watch werster on twitch frequently. He's a cool dude, though I think he may have taken this a bit too far. Now that he is unbanned he was back to speedrunning this morning and didn't seem all that upset, in fact he said the whole situation is funny to him. I'm guessing he was told to be on his best behavior for a while.

 

[S0N0S]

Might be worth it to consider the the problem from the perspective of FuzzyOtterBalls, one of the Twitch admin:

Thank you so much for posting this. It has been the hardest thing to sit back and watch this snowball with hateful "facts" at the top of the OP taken at face-value. I realize few will give the same courtesy to fuzzy's statement, especially if they've already chosen their side, but for my part, I agree with everything he said and think it deserves consideration.

Sad thing to me is realizing most will recognize Horror's name for this, and not the positive role he's played on twitch from day one. His recent Hidden Gems initiative, which seeks to promote, well, hidden gems within Twitch's now massive selection of channels is just one recent example.

 

[jaxpunk]

underage gay fursona

I've seen it all, do I just unplug the internet now?

 

[cpp_is_king]

They're not trying to put furry porn on Twitch, don't even try to bring that into this situation. The Twitch admins are being assholes, and are banning people for personal drama reasons.

I'm going to just come out and say that I had a few too many to drink last night.

 

[Parallax Scroll]

underage gay fursona

I've seen it all, do I just unplug the internet now?

don't forget vore

 

[atomic moth]

Everyone realizes the level-headed guy in this discussion is named FuzzyOtterBalls, right?

 

[RooMHM]

I don't think its totally paranoiac given the way that information circulates on Twitch. Take, for example, how often this thread has been derailed by furry-bashing instead of focusing on the actual issues at stake (e.g. admin abuse, streamer's rights, and Twitch's corporate structure). One of the things I'm sure Twitch is dealing with is how to control the fast-paced meme culture of live chat. As we've seen, a vocal minority can mobilize chat quickly and a lightning rod meme like "REMOVE HORROR" can change the texture of chat across the site.

I don t deny some people totally started a war against horror but calling it a "coordinated harassment campaign" is exaggerated I think.

First, I m not sure I would consider what most people did wasn t harassment. Sure they followed the supposed leader but posting "remove horror"s hardly harassment to me even if spammed. Thats just how twitch works (sadly).

Second, everything was far from being coordinated as far as I see. On the contrary it spread through unorganized virality rather than a campaign. People were giving support to the streamers they liked even without knowing the exact situation I think.

 

[DataGhost]

I watch werster on twitch frequently. He's a cool dude, though I think he may have taken this a bit too far. Now that he is unbanned he was back to speedrunning this morning and didn't seem all that upset, in fact he said the whole situation is funny to him. I'm guessing he was told to be on his best behavior for a while.

Probably because the stream is his job and his only source of income