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Popular Twitch streamer Forsen has claimed he was banned because the platform’s moderators misheard him, causing his suspension for “hateful conduct.”
Sebastian ‘Forsen’ Fors was banned from Twitch on September 10 – his second suspension on the platform, following his previous ban in May. He wasn’t given a detailed explanation behind his account ban, but once unbanned, Forsen talked revealed more information.
During his September 12 stream, Fors went over the stream in question, posted on his YouTube VOD channel, finding the instance for which he believes he was suspended.
Forsen unbanned after being ‘misheard’
In the video, Forsen says, “F**k. F**k it!” which, he explains, due to his Swedish accent, sounded like a homophobic slur.
The Swede says it was “quite silly” and that Twitch wrote to him explaining that he had used a homophobic slur, to which Forsen replied: “No I didn’t say the F-word.”
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“I got banned for hateful conduct for seven days, they [Twitch] should be banned for hateful conduct for making fun of my Swedish accent.”
Forsen added, “It’s okay if it’s one person, but it’s a whole group when it comes to banning bigger streamers, it’s a whole group of people on the moderation team and everyone listens in.” He then explained that he understands why it happened, as some members of his chat also mistakenly thought he had used a homophobic slur.
There have been multiple instances in the past of streamers being banned, who claim they were misheard. These include TFBlade, Pinkward, and Viperous.
In the case of TFBlade, Twitch upheld the ban, despite his appeals. Pinkward claimed that he actually said ‘Yikers’ – not the racial slur he was banned for. Viperous similarly was banned for using a racist slur, but posted evidence that she actually said ‘nerd.’
Twitch lifted Forsen’s ban on September 11, only around 24 hours after he was suspended. He remains one of the most popular streamers, with over 1.3 million followers. He has been broadcasting for almost a decade on the platform.