Twitch Streamer and left-wing political commentator Hasan Piker was banned from Twitch for using the term ”cracker.” Other streamers have also been banned after using the term.
Piker confirmed being banned from Twitch for a week after steaming about the use of the word “cracker” on December 13, after two of his moderators had been suspended for using the word.
“I’ve been called a cracker more times than every single one of you fucking pasty little cracker bitches in my chat, OK,” Piker said during the livestream. “Stop crying about this fucking term, OK? Recognize that the person who is calling you a fucking cracker is literally powerless…they’re doing it someone whose been historically oppressed blowing off steam.”
Twitch has not said why it suspended Piker or his moderators.
The platform also banned Fawn, a New Zealand streamer, and streamer Vaush for using the word “cracker.”
Twitch’s terms of service prohibit “using hateful slurs, either untargeted or directed towards another individual.”
The TOS continue: “We allow certain words or terms, which might otherwise violate our policy, to be used in an empowering way or as terms of endearment when such intent is clear. We also make exceptions for slurs in music—and singing along to music—as long as the song itself is not hateful and the slurs are not combined with other discriminating or denigrating content.”
But Twitch has not said whether or not it considers “cracker” a racial slur.
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