Trainwrecks’ Twitch Ban Explained

Posted by By our-little-miss-is-home November 13, 2024 21 Views 6 Min Read
Trainwrecks' Twitch Ban Explained



In late 2022, Tyler Faraz Niknam, popularly known as Trainwreckstv, expressed his displeasure a few months after Twitch updated their terms of service and began cracking down on unlicensed gambling content. Stake.com was one of Twitch‘s targets in the crackdown, a platform sponsoring Trainwreckstv at the time — and in light of the decision, the streamer decided he would take his talents to Kick.




Although he never truly completed the transition, that wasn’t to be the end of the controversy surrounding Trainwreckstv. On November 9, 2024, Trainwreckstv’s Twitch channel was banned for user spam during a live Rust event, marking the streamer’s first ban in over five years. The last time was in 2017 when his account was put to the sword following some comments about female streamers that Twitch deemed misogynistic.

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Trainwreckstv’s Twitch Ban And The Context Behind It

Trainwreckstv’s ban came while he was getting into the thick of his Rust event, which was scheduled to run between November 8 and 18. This event also included a Rust AK-47 Blue Gem skin giveaway for viewers who spent an hour on his stream, modeled after the highly sought-after CS2 weapon. However, the special event essentially halted when Twitch suspended his channel just a day into it, highlighting user spam as the rationale behind the ban.


User spam, according to Twitch, can encompass a range of activities, including excessive self-promotion, intrusive chatbot usage, and directing viewers to other platforms. Although the definitive reason for the suspension wasn’t clarified at the time, in Trainwreck’s case, the ban seems related to his subtle promotion of Kick.com, Twitch’s main competitor in the streaming space. Eventually, Twitch sent Trainwreckstv an email citing their reasons for taking action, and the clause that stood out the most was “Redirecting users to a live stream on another service via links on your Twitch stream, such as in overlays, QR codes, broadcast titles, and go-live notifications”. This means that anything suggestive of the Twitch streamer diverting viewers to move over to Kick could be termed a violation of their service.


In the wake of the three-day ban, Trainwreckstv expressed his frustration on social media, stating that he would have liked to receive a warning, especially since he had a track record of good behavior on the platform and was in the middle of a 10-day event. He also suggested that there was more to the ban’s timing, remarking on his Kick stream, “I know it is targeted because I know my accounts, it is not an automated ban.” He also noted that he had been one of the top streamers on the platform for an extended period, and the ban coincided with a peak in his viewership.

The Pushback Against Twitch and Trainwreckstv’s Restoration

Trainwreckstv has had his Kick stream link in his Twitch title for quite a while now, and while this does violate Twitch policy, many other streamers have been employing the same conversion strategy without punishment. This incident also aligns with a long list of scenarios where Twitch is inconsistent with cracking down on certain things. When Twitch cracked down on gambling sites in 2022, there were still a lot of streamers running these gambling streams and managing to escape punishment.


The ban was initially set to last three days, but it was lifted earlier than expected, during the early hours of November 10. Following the reinstatement of his account, Trainwreckstv thanked his fans for their support, suggesting that the public outcry surrounding his social media post and the ban may have influenced Twitch’s decision to reverse it so quickly. Trainwreckstv has since resumed the Rust event on November 11, with the giveaway still set to take place.

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