World of Warcraft streamer Asmongold (Zack Hoyt) is no stranger to controversy, but this time, even Twitch agreed that he’s gone too far. The streaming giant has banned Asmongold on its platform after the streamer’s rather detailed tirade against Palestinians. Asmongold stated that Palestinian people deserve the genocide they’re currently experiencing and that they are an inferior culture in all ways.
One of Asmongold’s accounts, named “ZackRawrr” has been banned. Twitch’s reasoning is “This channel is temporarily unavailable due to a violation of Twitch’s Community Guidelines or Terms of Service.”
As for a detailed account of what Asmongold said that led to the ban, here’s a short transcript of what he said on one of his livestreams:
“If you want to consider a genocide as a systematic killing of a group of people they have genocide built into Sharia law right now. So no, I’m not going to cry a f*cking river when people, who have genocide that’s baked into their laws, are getting genocided.
I don’t give a f*ck, they’re terrible people. It’s not even a question. It’s crazy that people don’t see it that way. They’d be doing the same thing.
These people are not your allies. They are not the same as us. They come from an inferior culture that is horrible, it kills people for their identity, and it is directly antithetical to everything Western values stand for, and is an inferior culture in all ways. It is that simple.
No, I don’t feel bad for them, I don’t feel sorry for them, I don’t care. I don’t support them.”
That’s a complete salad of xenophobia, Islamophobia, racism, and jingoism bundled up in a hate speech. So it wasn’t surprising that Twitch’s resolution was swift over what Asmongold has stated. Currently, the ongoing casualties in Gaza at the hands of the Israeli military have stacked up to 42,000 deaths, most of whom were civilians– women and children.
Asmongold apparently apologized soon after the clip had gone viral and after Twitch’s ban. However, his apology was mostly directed at his viewers and not the Palestinians whom he aggrieved.
Twitch’s guidelines also state that expressions of contempt, hatred, or disgust would lead to a ban. Moreover, negative stereotypes against groups of people would also result in severe bans. It’s not clear how long Asmongold’s account will remain banned.
The streaming platform has released no statement yet regarding the overturning of the ban despite Asmongold’s apology. It’s also worth noting that Asmongold is a co-owner and co-founder of a content creation organization called One True King. He’s also a co-owner of Starforge Systems, a computer company that sells pre-built gaming PCs.
