MEAWW.COM / NEWS / CELEBRITY NEWS

Why was Ryan Higa banned, then unbanned on Twitch midstream? YouTuber thanks fans for rallying behind him

While Higa himself didn't cite the reason for the short-lived ban, livid social media users called out the app for 'wrongfully' banning him for 'hateful content'

Twitch streamer Ryan Higa was unexpectedly banned from the platform on Thursday, March 25, during an 'Among Us' game broadcast and it isn’t serving his fans well. Higa was banned from Twitch and unbanned almost immediately as social media users pressurized the game streaming platform to lift the ban on his account. 

He later thanked his fans for extending their support and said it was a mistake on Twitch’s end and assured he wasn’t banned anymore. He tweeted, “Appreciate all the homies getting twitch's attention.. I'm unbanned! They sent me an email saying it was mistake on their end.  So everything's all good now! Thank you guys <3”

READ MORE 

Did Minecraft YouTuber Dream say the N-word? Truth behind #DreamIsOverParty as Internet dubs him 'racist liar'

Who is Holly Cannabis? Kaceytron and sister call Dream ‘misogynist’, Minecraft fans say ‘not one brain cell'

Why did Twitch ban Higa?

On February 26, Twitch tweeted, "Violent hate crimes and speech against Asians & Asian Americans have seen a sharp increase during this pandemic. Join us in taking a stand against xenophobia & violence by raising awareness within your communities and supporting charitable organizations."

It further added that if someone tried perpetuating "anti-Asian violence or hate", such incidents can be reported via different organizations. While Higa himself didn't cite the reason for the short-lived ban, livid social media users called out the app for "wrongfully" banning him for "hateful content."

Jake Lucky tweeted, "Ryan Higa was banned on Twitch for what some claimed as 'hateful conduct', he has now been unbanned 15 minutes later." Another tweeted, "Wow. Twitch randomly banned Ryan Higa mid stream for hateful conduct? He's far from a hateful person... #FREERYANHIGA I know he's unbanned now but this is so ridiculous."

Higa's fans slam Twitch for banning him 

Several of Higa's fas have noted how Higa was wrongfully banned for hate content and xenophobia, as suggested by Twitch, but other Internet personalities with far worse tweets and hashtags have never been held accountable. 

One Twitter user wrote, "so this ryan higa guy is unbanned after a single hashtag with only around 1,600 tweets, but Nairo is still banned after 3 hashtags and MANY more tweets."

A user wrote, "Twitch is willing to bring the hammer down on Ryan Higa for no apparent reason yet they won’t permanently ban predators like Onision lol k @Twitch" Another added, "You know Ryan Higa is literally one of the modern day pioneers of Asian representation in online entertainment... Nice move Twitch  "

Higa joins trolls to call out Twitch 

The YouTuber did not have much to say about his temporary ban on Twitch, but he joined his fans who trolled the streaming site for its mishap. He re-tweeted posts shared by his followers after the ban was lifted. 

One tweet read, "Hi Ryan, we here at Guinness have been alerted that you've achieved the world's fastest Twitch unban! We would appreciate you applying your timer and Vod proof to the link below! Thank you and have a nice day"

Another had written, "This is extremely scary news for smaller streamers, what if you got wrongfully banned and didn’t have as big of an audience to get the message across? Genuinely concerned this has happened before and could happen again to anyone of us, glad to see things got sorted for you Ryan"