Popular Chess-focused Twitch streamer Hikaru ‘GMHikaru’ Nakamura has been unbanned from Twitch a day early after watching Dr Disrespect’s stream while broadcasting, which is a violation of community guidelines.
GMHikaru has been unbanned just two days after receiving what was supposed to be a three-day suspension from Twitch for watching Dr Disrespect while broadcasting.
Shortly after hearing the news, Hikaru posted on Twitter that he will resume streams on March 25.
The lights are back on at https://t.co/1IAaMM5tcJ! Streams resume tomorrow with @benjamin_bok and @photochess pic.twitter.com/L3LeF1sEf1
— Hikaru Nakamura (@GMHikaru) March 24, 2022
Original Story Below…
On March 16, 2022, Hikaru left fans absolutely stunned as he watched Dr Disrespect play a game of Chess against fellow YouTube streamer DrLupo while he was streaming.
When his viewers mentioned the possibility of receiving a ban, Hikaru replied: “Chill out, you guys. Do you think I care? This is chess.”
According to popular Twitter ban-reporting bot ‘Streamerbans,’ the creator received his first ban on the platform on March 22, just eight days after watching Doc on stream.
❌ Twitch Partner "GMHikaru" (@GMHikaru) has been banned! ❌https://t.co/XJ6NFCdXwM#twitch #ban #firstban #partner #twitchpartner 🚎
— StreamerBans (@StreamerBans) March 22, 2022
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Hikaru responds to Twitch ban
Just 30 minutes later, Hikaru posted on Twitter in response to receiving his first-ever Twitch ban.
It reads: “The Doc tweeted that things are settled with Twitch… guess he was wrong. See everyone in three days.”
The Doc tweeted that things are settled with twitch… guess he was wrong. See everyone in 3 days.
— Hikaru Nakamura (@GMHikaru) March 22, 2022
Twitch TOS still prevents Dr Disrespect from being shown
While Dr Disrespect announced on March 10 that he had settled his legal dispute with Twitch — his account is still banned from the platform.
There are two aspects of the Twitch community guidelines that detail the rules regarding showcasing a banned streamer on the platform.
It says: “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.”
Luckily for the popular Chess streamer, this is his first ban, and he’ll be back streaming his favorite game in no time.