Not even a whole month ago, we ran a story about an Australian Fortnite streamer who supposedly hit his pregnant wife during a live broadcast. The conclusion to that tale saw the streamer headed to court charged with “common assault” while Twitch gave his account an immediate ban. That should have been the end of it. Unfortunately, it’s not. The streamer in question is already back on Twitch after what had to be less than a 30-day ban.
For those who missed the story, it centered around a streamer called MrDeadMoth who was playing Fortnite one weekend last December. His viewers could hear his wife call him to dinner, expressing her frustration at the amount of time he spent at his computer. After some time of this, he stormed off, out of the frame of his face cam. Many viewers reported hearing what sounded like a slap, with the wife screaming “You hear that? All you people there? He just hit me in the face.”
Read More: Australian Fortnite Streamer Charged After Allegedly Hitting His Wife On Stream
Cops were sent to the home after viewers tipped them off to the incident. MrDeadMoth, whose real name is Luke Munday, was taken into custody and ordered to appear in court the following Thursday. His account was banned by Twitch.
New information, however, reveals that neither of these actions have stuck. Legal action against Munday has been delayed until January 10th on the grounds that he needed more time to seek representation and counsel. In the meantime, VP Esports reports, he’s been back on Twitch streaming Fortnite.
According to one streamer, MrDeadMoth got banned for just over two weeks, a lighter sentence than one gets for using naughty words on stream.
It’s one of many instances in which the community has been baffled by how Twitch as an organization operates. Bans appear to be handled with little consistency, with the company rarely explaining why some get lesser punishments than others. For instance, a streamer recently took her shirt off while her camera was on, baring her chest to viewers, something the terms of service don’t allow. Not only was she released from her three-day ban early, she was offered a partnership with Twitch.
There has to be a lot that goes on behind the scenes at Twitch that us viewers will never know. Still, many are finding that the company’s attitude towards who gets banned and for how long seems wildly inconsistent, and dependent on who will bring in more traffic. It will have to be up to users to vote with their views to decide who is truly worth representing Twitch and game streaming as a whole. But based on how many clicks controversy brings in, I’m not too hopeful.
