Meowko Is Banned

Twitch is one of the most popular online streaming platforms in the world, and its most popular streamers may attract a lot of attention. The site is also noted for its perplexing and somewhat odd approach to bans, which appear to strike anyone at any moment. Meowko, a renowned Japanese Twitch streamer, recently said that Twitch had intended to surprise her by banning her on her birthday. 

Meowko’s streams have gotten a lot of attention since they frequently include gaming, humorous costumes, and IRL streaming from all over Japan. She also claimed receiving some negative attention in the form of a stalker a few months back. Fortunately, Meowko’s current situation appears to be less dangerous, but it may be more inconvenient. 

The streamer went on her official Twitter account to explain what was going on. She claimed in her tweet that Twitch had unexpectedly banned her for taking a break from her home fitness stream to cook. The problem, it appears, is that she didn’t change out of her training clothes before starting to prepare a snack. If the hot tub trend has taught Twitch streamers anything, it’s that the platform has very rigid dress codes for different types of videos. 

Despite the fact that the streamer claimed to have just concluded an exercise, Twitch seemed to have missed the shift from workout to cooking. 

This appears to have led the site to believe she was cooking in swimsuit, which is a prohibited activity. Fans may not be surprised by this mix-up, given some of the entertaining ways streamers have been booted from Twitch. Meowko, on the other hand, mentions another concern that arose during her suspension: the alleged use of an augmented reality avatar. 

Meowko drew attention to one specific line in her first tweet, accusing her of employing an augmented reality avatar on stream, in a follow-up tweet. 

This would not have been a problem if the avatar hadn’t also been found to have “insufficient coverage.” Based on this complaint, it appears that Twitch mistook Meowko—a very real Japanese woman—for a virtual streamer’s bespoke avatar. Although it’s unclear how the error occurred, fans may find this second blunder less acceptable than the first. Regardless, a large number of Meowko’s followers have responded to her tweets with condolences for the ban and birthday greetings.