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2022 has been a big year for Twitch streamers. Not even halfway into the year, the platform has seen tremendous changes, including big name streamers leaving the platform, changes to Twitch's revenue split with its partners, and much more.
There's also been a fair share of controversies, both in the shape of streamer drama and sitewide trends that might not be in Twitch's best interests moving forward.
In this list, we'll take a look at the five biggest Twitch streamer controversies of 2022 so far.
5 biggest controversies to hit livestreaming platforms in 2022
1) Gambling streams
Over the past couple of months, gambling on Twitch has become one of the hottest topics surrounding the platform, especially since a large chunk of Twitch's audience consists of minors or lives in areas where gambling is illegal.
This has not stopped large streamers like Trainwreck and xQc from taking large sums of money from gambling websites to promote online casinos in their streams. xQc recently moved back to his home country of Canada, seemingly so that he could return to gambling on his Twitch livestreams.
Many viewers have criticized these streamers for promoting gambling to children, particularly to xQc, whose audience is largely made of underaged minors. He's also been accused of selling out, as he reversed his previous stance on gambling streams after taking an endorsement deal with Stake.
2) Hot tub streamer bans
Hot tub streamers and bikini streams have been some of the most controversial streams on Twitch over the past few years. While streaming has become about far more than just video games over the years, many have agreed that hot tub streams take things a bit too far and shouldn't share the same platform.
In 2021, the debate around hot tub streams led to it being legitimized on the platform, receiving its own category on Twitch. Since 2022, however, many of those streams have been hit with repeated bans.
Streamers SpoopyKitt and SpookyUnagi received bans on their hot tub streams, claiming they received no clarification from Twitch as to why. They also said that nothing about their content had changed substantially, making it difficult for them to understand why they were banned.
While not specifically in response to this situation, Twitch recently announced that it will be providing more clarity to banned streamers on the exact reason for their bans.
3) Pokimane vs. JiDion
Pokimane, the most popular female streamer on Twitch, suddenly received a wave of hate in her Twitch chat. While the hate she was receiving was upsetting, it became even more so when she found out it wasn't from bots, but from JiDion's fan base.
JiDion had directed his viewers to go to Pokimane's stream and leave misogynistic remarks in her chat. The hate-raid first resulted in a two-week suspension for JiDion, eventually being upped to a permanent ban.
Ninja got involved in the situation after JiDion reached out to him, who offered advice and help to avoid receiving punishment for the situation. This led to a drama between Pokimane and Ninja, as well as his wife reaching out to Poki via DMs to threaten her with legal action.
Eventually, Pokimane and JiDion met up in person to squash the beef and set aside their differences. The drama between her and Ninja quickly died down afterwards.
4) SkyDoesMinecraft
YouTube rapper Adam "NetNobody" started his career as a Minecraft content creator known as SkyDoesMinecraft. He reached massive popularity on the site, amassing over 10 million followers during that time.
After switching the focus of his content away from Minecraft, his channel's growth was stunted, receiving fewer views on his newer uploads. He did have a dedicated community of fans for his music and gaming content.
This all changed in January when NetNobody was accused of sexual assault by his former partner Elizabeth on Twitter. She posted an iCloud document where she detailed his substance abuse, theft of money from his own company, as well as sexual harassment and assault claims made by various women.
There was radio silence on the part of the former Minecraft YouTuber, until it surfaced that he had posted his YouTube channels, including his main channel with 11 million subscribers, up for sale on the internet. This news likely signaled the end for SkyDoesMinecraft.
5) TV Meta
While the controversy surrounding TV Meta on Twitch has mostly died down, there is still some discussion about it and reaction content as a whole.
Months before Twitch's biggest names were following the Johnny Depp v. Amber Heard trial on their streams, they were watching television series. Anime and reality TV series were a big hit with creators and their audiences.
After some time, Twitch began to act, banning big streamers like Pokimane and Disguised Toast for violating copyright laws and Twitch Terms of Service.
