Update (Monday, January 26 – 7 PM PT): After almost a week-long ban on Twitch, Ziqo’s account was restored on January 26. Unfortunately, the popular streamer still has no idea why the ban came through in the first place.
“I’m free, thank you so much everyone,” he shared shortly after regaining access to his Twitch profile. Six days and six hours later, his first ban on the streaming platform was rescinded, though the situation was still just as confusing.
IM FREE DUDE THANK YOU SO MUCH EVERYONE
— Ziqo (@Ziqoftw) January 25, 2021
“I was never given any context, I was never given a clip,” he added in a follow-up YouTube video. “I was ignored in every attempt at trying to find out why I’d been banned. I feel like I haven’t been heard. This is my first suspension ever, I just want to make sure that my side of the story is heard.”
With the outpouring of support from the community, Ziqo’s case became a hot topic. “Eventually, it gained a lot of traction and I received a response [from Twitch].
“After reviewing this enforcement, we have determined that [the ban] was issued incorrectly,” the statement from Twitch explained. Despite the punishment being reverted, there was still no reason provided as to what caused the ban in the beginning.
The original story continues below.
On January 19, World of Warcraft creator Mohamed ‘Ziqo’ Beshir announced he would be unable to stream for several days. He later confirmed his account was suspended by Twitch, but claimed the ban came without explanation or warning.
A long-time World of Warcraft content creator and caster, Ziqo is a respected voice in the community and go-to channel for many PVP players. Known for streams and videos showing off his skill as a Mage, he become a staple of the game’s PVP scene over the years.
With tens of thousands of subscribers across his Twitch and YouTube channels, and time spent signed to respected organizations like Cloud9, Ziqo has amassed a dedicated following of fans and the respect of his fellow WoW creators.
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Now Ziqo finds himself in a situation where he can’t stream “for some days,” but didn’t have any other details to share at the time. Two days later he confirmed his Twitch account was suspended until January 27, and also claimed the platform never provided a reason for his ban.
To all my viewers & mods asking constantly: my twitch suspension will expire on wednesday. Don't know more right now. Will likely post a video once my suspension is expired, will also know more by then, aswell as share my thoughts on this situation.
— Ziqo (@Ziqoftw) January 22, 2021
Support from fans and creators filled Twitter and Reddit. Fellow WoW streamer Nick ‘nmplol’ Polom asked if Twitch gave a reason for the ban, and Ziqo responded “Nope, zero transparency so far.” Ziqo also discussed how these events had affected him: “I feel like a criminal, I have nightmares about it.”
The creator then explained how went back to his old streams to find something that might explain the ban. “I keep replaying my streams over in my head grasping for straws,” he said. He was unable to pinpoint a reason for the ban, and said “I really feel so bad right now left in the dark.”
Ziqo banned for ‘hateful speech and slurs’
Shortly after announcing the news, Ziqo put out a video on YouTube where he revealed he had since heard from Twitch that the suspension was for 7 days for breaking Twitch TOS by “using a hateful slur during a VOD.”
https://youtu.be/AOGH1Yu0EJw
Despite informing him where he could appeal the suspension, Twitch could not point him to a specific clip or instance where Ziqo was caught breaking TOS, according to him.
“They told me it could be anything, honestly. In that policy it could be that I did a “hateful” symbol, it could be because I was stretching and they said ‘that’s a Nazi symbol, you’re banned,'” the streamer speculated. “It could be I left my chat open in WoW and somebody said something, it could be I said something. I highly doubt that since I never say these things in general, but it could be, I’m open to the possibility, maybe I slipped up.
The platform’s policies on banning streamers have been criticized by the community many times for their ambiguity, and it seems this is just another case to add to the ever-expanding file.
One big problem with the way Ziqo feels his suspension has been handled is that since Twitch hasn’t told him exactly what it is that got him banned, he can’t look out for it and avoid it in the future. Either way, he says he plans on returning to stream as soon as his suspension ends.