The Bizarre Reason This Streamer Says She Was Banned From Twitch
Twitch is once again under fire for banning a creator under mysterious circumstances. Alisha12287, a Runescape gamer, was allegedly issued a temporary ban from the platform for "harassment." This particular ban has caused a controversy among viewers, since this time it appears that the company is punishing the streamer for speaking out against cruelty to animals in one of her streams.
During the livestream in question, Alisha12287 called out a cat breeding company called Adorable Stars, which is based in Orlando, Florida. On the Adorable Stars website, the business calls itself a "luxury pet breeder," and advertises its selection of Scottish and British breeds as well as Maine Coon kittens. The website also offers a "Cattery Tour" and a live stream video of the facility.
According to Alisha, the company has an open lawsuit filed against it by the USDA, and has allegedly been responsible for the illnesses and deaths of the animals in its care. Alisha made a post on Twitter in which she linked to the Adorable Stars' streaming site and tagged Twitch, stating: "Have you seen the Yelp reviews about the kittens dying in the arms of their new family after 14 days?"
In the same tweet chain, Alisha12287 linked to an Instagram story. In the disturbing video, the creator claimed that the cat she adopted from the Adorable Stars breeding company came infested with both fleas and ringworm. There also appeared to be video evidence of the kitten's illness as it continuously coughed and appeared to have trouble breathing. The owner stated that she has to "force feed" the kitten to keep it alive, and that Adorable Stars has refused to reimburse her for medical fees.
According to Alisha, her public denouncement of the business led to the Adorable Stars company contacting its lawyers, who reached out to both Alisha and Twitch. This was supposedly enough to spook the popular streaming website into banning Alisha12287 for 14 days. The news of Alisha's ban was broken by popular game streamer Destiny, who spoke about it during his own livestream.
On Oct. 18, Alisha12287 shared a video on Twitter and made an official statement on the matter. The streamer appeared nervous as she read from a script, saying "I need to be cautious of my words, as things have escalated to a point in which I did not want, but perhaps I am grateful for it." She went on to say that Twitch contacted her with few details about the reasons for the ban. "I was however emailed by a 'specific business' who boasted to me that they were in fact the reason why I was banned." Alisha also stated that she expected the "backlash" for bringing up the issue, but felt it was important to speak her mind in spite of the risks.
The streamer mentioned a Reddit thread during her statement, which was posted on Oct. 16 by u/rzan12 and reportedly shot to the number one spot on the website. The comments on the thread were filled with outrage directed at both the cat breeding company and Twitch, as well as sympathy for Alisha12287. Alisha (mistakenly citing it as being posted on Sep. 16) stated that the thread also contained information about "prior lawsuits, falsified vet documents, and stories of those who purchased kittens from said business that died within a few days."
At the end of the statement, Alisha12287 encouraged watchers to research the information online, which has been made available for public viewing. She went on to state that the company has contacted her multiple times, but she has refused to respond. Instead she hopes to see justice for the animals and families affected by the business's alleged practices.
Twitch has developed something of a reputation for its supposedly shady decisions, including inflicting bans on streamers without disclosing the full reasons. Most notably, Dr. Disrespect was banned permanently from the platform, leaving fans as well as the Doc with a number of unanswered questions. There was also the November 2019 case of Viperous, who claimed she was banned for saying the word "nerd" during a stream.
Many gamers find it suspicious that Twitch will ban streamers for seemingly innocuous reasons when there have been a number of complaints of harassment on the site that Twitch has reportedly failed to get under control. Like many bans, the full details surrounding Alisha12287's situation remain unclear; however, at least according to the streamer, it looks like the platform may have handed out the punishment simply to avoid legal issues. She is currently planning an animal shelter focused charity stream for her return to Twitch on Friday, Oct. 23.