In a strange series of events, Twitch has been banning PewDiePie’s channel multiple times, only to unban it moments later. While no one seems to know exactly what’s going on, this has happened three times in just the last two weeks, leaving fans scratching their heads.
Source: Gamingbible
PewDiePie—real name Felix Kjellberg—is a name almost everyone in online content creation knows. He rose to fame in the early 2010s with his hilarious “Let’s Play” videos, turning his unique, boisterous style into a global phenomenon. Once the most-subscribed creator on YouTube, PewDiePie has since shifted gears, focusing more on personal life after returning to YouTube last year.
Although PewDiePie hasn’t been active on Twitch since signing an exclusive deal with YouTube in 2020, his Twitch channel has remained active in an interesting way. In March 2023, CoPilotMedia bought the rights to the channel and started running 24/7 reruns of his old content. And it’s been surprisingly popular, too, amassing nearly two million followers with an average of about 200 live viewers.
But lately, these mysterious bans have started cropping up. On October 3, 12, and 14, Twitch banned PewDiePie’s channel for about 15 minutes each time. No one’s sure why it’s happening, but viewers are definitely confused.
And it’s not just PewDiePie’s channel. Other streamers’ rerun accounts, like Lirik’s “Lirik_247” and Shroud’s “Shrood,” have been hit with similar short-term bans. So, what’s going on here?
Some fans and outlets have speculated that it might be tied to Twitch’s recent changes to its ban and strike system. The platform rolled out new rules aiming to make bans more transparent, and it also introduced stricter guidelines around impersonation. While those updates could be affecting rerun channels, Twitch hasn’t confirmed anything yet.
This has led to a lot of guesswork, with some wondering if these bans are simply technical glitches tied to the new system. Others suggest it might be Twitch’s way of tightening the reins on how rerun content is managed. Either way, it’s all a bit of a mystery for now.
Neither Twitch nor PewDiePie has commented on the issue yet, leaving fans to speculate and await further developments. But with multiple popular channels caught in the same cycle of bans and unbans, it’s clear something’s brewing—whether it’s a bug in the system or a shift in policy enforcement remains to be seen.
