These days, brands are taking a harsh, no tolerance approach to online speech. The gaming hardware company Razer recently excluded a Brazilian influencer and a streamer Gabriela Cattuzzo from their influencer program after she replied to a user on Twitter saying, “men are trash.” Razer decided to not renew Cattuzzo’s contract as they deemed her statement to be “extremism.”
Cattuzzo is a Brazilian streamer who primarily broadcasted on Facebook. In the previous week, she posted a picture of herself riding a mechanical bull on Twitter. A user replied to her tweet saying, “you can ride me as much as you want.” As a response to the reply, she tweeted saying, “ “There’s always an asshole to say sh*t and sexualize women, even when the woman is making a joke, right? That’s why men are trash.”
The tweet sparked a heated controversy and it’s alleged that several people started “harassing” her online. Dogolochan, a Brazilian forum, posted clips from an old Twitch stream of Cantuzzo where she could be found trash talking a viewer that asked a question. Cattuzzo said that both she and her family are receiving threats and much of her personal information was posted online. As a result, she announced that she was stepping away from social media and taking a brief hiatus.
“I will be off for a few days as they are threatening my family and friends to death. Do not worry about me, I’m taking this time to reflect on how I can improve as a person in relation to everything that happened. Thanks,” tweeted Cattuzzo.
Cattuzzo apologized for her reaction and expressed that she wasn’t however apologetic for defending herself. Razer decided to not renew her contract.
“Razer Brazil reinforces that the opinion of its influencers does not reflect, necessarily, the opinion of the business, which is totally against any type of discrimination be it of sex, religion, political party or whatever type of intolerance and extremism. We have been since the beginning, as gamers, confronted with all types of preconceptions and stereotypes, and we will continue to fight so that this type of situation won’t repeat itself,” said Razer in a statement posted on Twitter.
