Streamers who have long been permabanned on Twitch might finally be able to return to the platform following a major update to the ban system.
On February 19, Twitch unveiled a series of changes to how bans are handled after admitting that the previous system had some glaring flaws.
One of the big changes is in the form of violations of the site’s community guidelines. Formerly, violations would remain attached to accounts permanently and multiple minor infractions could result in an indefinite suspension.
Going forward, violations will expire after as little as 90 days, giving streamers a clean slate. However, frequent violations of the same infraction will result in harsher penalties and longer suspensions.
Twitch says this change will “reduce the risk that streamers lose their communities and livelihoods for low severity violations” but for those affected by the past policies, there may be some hope.
Permabanned streamers could be let back on Twitch
In a blog post, the Amazon-owned platform addressed accounts that had received enforcement and what would happen following these new updates.
While accounts currently not indefinitely banned will see when their violations are set to expire, Twitch had a message to those who have permabanned, too.
“If your account was previously indefinitely suspended it will remain so, and to restore access you can submit an appeal, or request reinstatement of your account if you’ve been indefinitely suspended for longer than 6 months,” they said.
It seems like Twitch will be taking into account instances where channels had been permabanned due to multiple minor infractions over several years.
Twitch has stated that the former system “disproportionately impacted longtime streamers, as over time” and counting past violations “could be overly punitive.”
Interestingly, the same day these changes were implemented, Twitch unbanned Sliker after over two years only to suspend him once again mere hours later.
It’s not clear if the two are correlated, but we could be seeing more indefinitely banned streamers allowed back on the site if they were punished too hard for a series of minor violations.