Twitch Changes Rule After Dr Disrespect Sighting

Dr Disrespect's ban from Twitch is pretty well known in the gaming community at this point. The controversial streamer was unceremoniously jettisoned from the platform in late June, and to be honest, no one is really sure why.

The Doc has since resurfaced on YouTube, and is once again entertaining tens of thousands of loyal viewers on the regular. But there's no love lost between Dr Disrespect and Twitch, as evidenced by a change Twitch just made to its community guidelines.

As seen in footage archived by Esports Talk, Dr Disrespect made his presence known during the broadcasts of two Twitch streamers recently. The Doc played in a Call of Duty: Warzone lobby with Nadeshot, who allowed The Doc's voice to come through on his stream. And Dr Disrespect also streamed a game of Madden NFL 21 with Snoop Dogg, apparently, with his mug very much visible on Snoop Dogg's Twitch channel. And yes, we mean that Snoop Dogg.

At first glance, Dr Disrespect's appearance on these channels may not seem like a big deal. Yes, the Doc is banned from Twitch. But he's not attempting to flout that suspension by using an alternate account, or by donning another disguise while pretending to be someone else. He's simply playing games with other streamers who happen to be on Twitch.

However, it seems Twitch doesn't quite see it that way. When comparing an older version of the platform's Community Guidelines page with the page that's currently live, you can indeed see that Twitch appears to have expanded its "Suspension Evasion" section. The text that's been added seems specifically targeted at the streamers who've had Dr Disrespect on their channels.

The "Suspension Evasion" section used to read as follows:

"All suspensions are binding until expiration or removal upon appeal. Any attempt to circumvent an account suspension or chat ban by using other accounts, identities, personalities, or presence on another user's account will also result in suspension. Suspension evasion will not only increase the length of suspension, but may lead to an indefinite suspension."

In the new version of the Community Guidelines page, some of the wording in that paragraph is slightly different. But that's not the big change. The big change is the entire second paragraph Twitch tacked on, which states:

"In addition, it is prohibited to use your channel to knowingly feature or advertise a suspended user. We understand that there may be instances where suspended users may appear on your stream due to circumstances beyond your control, such as through third-party gaming tournaments, but we expect that you make a good faith effort to remove them from your broadcast, mute them, or otherwise limit their interactions with your stream."

You might as well call this "The Doc Rule" going forward. If a streamer is suspended from Twitch and a Twitch user hosts them on their channel in pretty much any capacity, they are putting their Twitch account — and potentially their livelihood — at risk.

This change now puts a lot of extra burden on the backs of Twitch streamers.

Twitch acknowledges there may be "circumstances beyond your control" that cause a suspended streamer to still appear on someone's channel. Regardless, Twitch asks that users make a "good faith effort to remove them from your broadcast." What does that mean? If someone comments over a stream of The Game Awards and Dr Disrespect is a presenter, do they have to cut away and mute the audio as soon as he takes the stage? How much policing will a streamer have to do to ensure a suspended user doesn't show up?

And how feasible is it, really, for Twitch to continue this campaign against Dr Disrespect? Twitch may have its own reasons for not doing business with the streamer, but the fact remains that Dr Disrespect is a very big part of the larger gaming community. He plays the same games a lot of Twitch streamers play, and he even runs tournaments from time to time.

The Doc may operate on another platform now, but that doesn't seem to have diminished his standing in any way. By forcing its users to essentially avoid Dr Disrespect, Twitch seems to be locking them out of certain activities and experiences. This could actually hinder their growth, and could give streamers on other platforms a leg up.

Again, no one knows why Twitch and Dr Disrespect are no longer on good terms. But the aftershocks of Dr Disrespect's ban from the platform continue to be felt to this day. If we learn about any other Doc-related changes Twitch is making, we'll be sure to let you know.