Twitch streamer and VTuber Ana Valens lashed out at Twitch after her virtual model’s bikini, which she wore in a VRchat broadcast, got her banned from the platform.
Twitch’s guidelines around appropriate attire and VTubers is a topic that’s sparked a heated conversation online in the past, and it continues to bring up confusion to this day.
In fall 2024, Twitch introduced updates to its Enforcement Notes feature, which included “additional clarifications and examples” within its Community Guidelines to get ahead of any new ‘metas.’
In particular, Twitch mentioned VTubers, requiring their character models to be fully covered. They famously made specific mention of the hips, saying “hip coverage is often forgotten.”
This started a viral debate across social media and left VTubers outraged — and months later, things don’t seem to have gotten any clearer.
VTuber furious over Twitch guidelines after bikini ban
On April 9, 2025, VTuber Ana Valens was in the middle of a Twitch stream on VRchat wearing two different swimsuits when she found herself unable to access her chat.
She quickly discovered that she’d been banned from Twitch for 24 hours over “inappropriate attire,” according to an email they sent her shortly thereafter, which referenced “an augmented reality avatar on stream that has insufficient coverage.”
While Valens admitted that she may have toed the line on these requirements, she also expressed frustration over the apparent inconsistency of Twitch’s bans — especially when it comes to VTubers vs real-life streamers.
For instance, she pointed out that these coverage requirements don’t apply to “video game characters including those uploaded into games such as VRChat,” making her particular situation all the more confusing.
On top of that, she referenced three additional instances of other VTubers wearing drastically less clothing in their own VRchat Twitch streams without getting banned. So, what gives?
“I’m starting to become frustrated with Twitch,” she wrote in an April 10 article for VICE. “If I play a stupid game and I win a stupid prize, that’s on me. If the rules of the game are completely incoherent because some players are getting penalized while others are walking over them?
“That’s not playing a stupid game and winning a stupid prize. That’s playing Calvinball, where the rules change on the fly, and it’s impossible to tell how the game should be played.”
Twitch has addressed concerns regarding its VTuber attire policy in the past. In fact, they opened up about the backlash in an exclusive statement to Dexerto in October 2024, clarifying that their attire policy is “equally applicable to human streamers and VTubers” alike.
However, we noted that Twitch’s Community Guidelines also state that “swimwear, short shorts, and bodysuits are permitted as long as they completely cover the genitals,” meaning that VTubers should be able to stream with exposed hips in bikinis, such as Ana Valens.
Despite the confusion, Twitch assured us that they are well-aware of the importance of VTubers on their platform and were open to feedback regarding its policies within the VTubing community.
“We want to get this right and appreciate all the feedback, as VTubers are and will always be a really valued part of the Twitch community,” Twitch told us.
Content shared from www.dexerto.com.