Asmongold may have gotten hit with the banhammer, but some streamers think that he wasn't hit hard enough. This is what Twitch personalities have to say about his controversial remarks.
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00:00Asmongold may have gotten hit with the banhammer, but some streamers think that he wasn't hit
00:05hard enough. This is what Twitch personalities have to say about his controversial remarks.
00:10Twitch has issued a pretty severe ban to famed streamer Asmongold, but some are already calling
00:15for a heftier punishment. After going on a long rant about the war in Gaza on October
00:2014, Asmongold's alt account, Zakrar, was suspended for two weeks.
00:24During the stream, Asmongold started chatting with his viewers about the conflict between
00:28Israel and Palestine, emphatically stating his apathy towards the tens of thousands of
00:33civilians that have been killed in Gaza. He told his audience,
00:36"...I don't give a f----. They're terrible people. These people are not your allies,
00:40they are not the same as us. They come from an inferior culture that is horrible."
00:45Almost immediately, Twitch streamers and users started calling for Asmongold to be banned
00:50from the platform for hate speech, and now that he's received a temporary ban, many of
00:54them feel that it should be permanent instead. In a statement to IGN, Twitch explained,
00:59"...we take enforcement action when there are violations of our community guidelines,
01:03including our hateful conduct policy and other rules."
01:06Even people who've supported or collaborated with Asmongold in the past have expressed
01:10shock at his comments, and the apologies that he has since posted online haven't earned
01:15him much forgiveness from the public.
01:17One of the first high-profile people to call for Asmongold's ban was fellow content creator
01:22Brooke A.B., who posted on the day of the stream,
01:24"...this is just straight-up racism. Twitch support, do something."
01:29Streamer Hasan Piker, who has been critical of Asmongold in the past, also had an intense
01:33reaction to the comments.
01:34"...what are you doing? Log off the internet, stop reading f---- Reddit, and go talk to
01:39some real humans, please."
01:41Piker proceeded to give Asmongold a call during his broadcast, kicking off a debate on the
01:46subject that lasted for quite a while. Another streamer, KC Tron, compiled a list of Twitch's
01:51terms of service that may have been violated by Asmongold's now-infamous rant. Meanwhile,
01:56media personality Jake Lucky remarked,
01:58"...dude coulda played video games for the rest of his life and made millions but instead
02:02wastes his time needing to share his opinion on every single world topic."
02:07People who have been friendly with Asmongold in the past didn't take these comments any
02:10better than the rest of the internet.
02:13Tips Out, who co-founded the organization One True King with Asmongold, posted a lengthy
02:17statement about the situation, referring to his experiences being a first-generation
02:22immigrant and practicing Muslim in America. His post read, in part,
02:26"...the language Asmongold used, whether intended or not, reeked of the same dehumanization
02:30that plagued their ancestors, their grandparents, and in some cases, their families today."
02:35Nick Merks, who has been vocally supportive of Asmongold in the past, was also completely
02:40taken aback by the streamer's comments. On his own stream, he said,
02:44"...when innocent children and people are dying and you say that you don't feel bad
02:47about that, that's just a really crazy hill to die on, man."
02:51Asmongold somewhat walked back his comments in an apology post that he made just hours
02:55after his stream, writing,
02:57"...looking back on it, I was way too much of an a-hole about the Palestine thing. My
03:01bad. Of course no one deserves to have their life destroyed, even if they do things or
03:05have views I find regressive. You guys deserve more than me, saying stupid s--- like that.
03:10I'll do better."
03:11A number of commenters criticized Asmongold for his flippant use of the phrase,
03:15"...my bad," with some arguing that he was attempting to downplay the severity of his
03:19initial comments. At least some people were satisfied by the apology, though. After expressing
03:24his surprise at Asmongold's initial comments, XQC read the apology on stream and responded
03:29by saying,
03:30"...eh, fair enough."
03:31Despite the apology post, Twitch banned Asmongold's alt account the next day. Palestinian streamer
03:36CapriSunPoppy praised Twitch for making the decision, posting,
03:40"...it looks like Asmongold was banned on his Zack Rahr account. Good on Twitch for
03:44doing the right thing. We can't allow bigotry to be normalized."
03:48The apology post clearly wasn't enough, as Asmongold published a more in-depth video
03:52taking accountability for his words. He clarified that while he doesn't consider his stance
03:56to be racist, he does feel strongly opposed to religious extremism. Still, he admitted
04:02that he went too far.
04:03"...but there have been ways that I've communicated and ways that I've acted that are indefensible."
04:10It remains to be seen whether or not this controversy will permanently damage Asmongold's
04:13career and whether or not he'll follow through on the changes he's promised to make.