Twitch Streamers Call for Ban on Gambling Content
Several of the top streamers on Twitch, including Pokimane, Devin Nash, and Hasan Piker, are calling for a ban on gambling content on the platform following the revelation that another high-profile streamer scammed his followers and other content creators to fund his gambling addiction.
On Saturday, Twitch streamer Abraham Jehad “Sliker” Mohammed revealed that he had scammed his followers and other streamers out of $200,000 (€199,815) to fund his Counter-Strike: Global Offensive gambling addiction. In a video posted on his account over the weekend, Sliker admitted that he had started gambling with CS:GO skins but then moved onto real money gambling. During the video stream, he apologized to those who had given him money and stated that he was seeking treatment for his addiction.
Since the video was released, many of the platform’s top streamers are now rallying behind the #TwitchStopGambling hashtag in an effort to convince Twitch to place an outright ban on all gambling-related content.
Last year, Twitch banned affiliate links and referral codes for slots, roulette, and dice games. The new restrictions took effect from Tuesday August 17th. However, gambling content remains hugely popular on Twitch with many streamers still signing sponsorship deals with online casino and gambling companies. This rise in popularity has seen the online slots category become the seventh most popular category on Twitch while online poker and sports betting streams also draw in large audiences.
Olivia RichardsonOlivia has worked as an editor and writer for major brands across multiple niches. She now focuses on the iGaming and sports betting industries.