Twitch is facing criticism from its users after the platform seemingly promoted Kai Cenat's ongoing subathon, titled Mafiathon 3. The ongoing event began on September 1, 2025, and will continue for the rest of the month, with Cenat aiming to surpass one million concurrent subscribers on the platform.Reportedly, Twitch is pushing promotional content for the subathon on both its website and in its emails. As seen in screenshots posted online, the promotional material contained information about Mafiathon 3 itself and a special badge that has been available for Kai Cenat's subscribers. Twitch also reportedly showcased a button that allowed users to visit and follow Kai Cenat's channel.Many netizens have since voiced disappointment with Twitch's apparent promotion of Kai Cenat's content, with some even considering the platform's actions as being equivalent to "astroturfing." For those unfamiliar, this is an informal term often used to describe simulated campaigns or messages that appear to be grassroots or naturally occurring but are being promoted by a sponsor or a company.In other words, netizens implied that Twitch was promoting Kai Cenat's broadcast to make it appear more popular among the masses than it actually is, with many calling out the platform for supposedly playing favorites:"Pathetically obvious astroturfing," wrote X user @kurufal"I Iike Kai but yeah clearly it’s favoritism to only blast him," wrote X user @McmxtTV"Twitch playing favorites is nothing new, but this blatant favoritism over charity streams is particularly disappointing. Typical corporate move - promote what makes them money, not what helps others. Ironmouse deserved the same support," wrote X user @panthuraax"What a suprise a streaming platform is promoting a streamer subathon with a 1 million sub goal," wrote X user @Nward16NwOn the other side, some were less concerned about Twitch's promotional efforts, considering them as a natural effect of Kai Cenat being the face of the platform:"Isn’t this just normal marketing??" wrote X user @theFLmanDanmufc"Yes, because twitch is a business that want to make more money?" wrote X user @Mindmelel"A platform promotes a guy who is practically the face of Twitch and earns them the most money. Why is this bad? The Kai hate is so forced, imagine people getting mad at the NBA for promoting LeBron James or Steph Curry," wrote X user @7truthprevails7RaKai and Ray get spooked by rats at Kai Cenat's Mafiathon 3 mansionAs the subathon is currently underway, it continues to churn out viral moments, with a recent one emerging on the third day of the broadcast. A clip uploaded to X showcases Kai Cenat's friends and fellow streamers Quvonn "2xRaKai" and Ray "rayasianboy" going to the kitchen of Cenat's Mafiathon 3 mansion.The two can then be seen getting spooked and even jumping on the kitchen counter. The camera eventually caught two rats at the corner of the kitchen. After Ray approached the direction of the rats, they quickly scurried across the kitchen floor, further spooking the two streamers to another counter on the other side of the room.In other news, YouTube star Darren "IShowSpeed" was recently called out by a woman after he supposedly accidentally ignored her four-year-old son during his Philadelphia tour.