Felix “PewDiePie” Kjellberg has been banned from Twitch, which has led to questions about why and stirred up discussion of his infamous “PUBG bridge incident.”
While Twitch often faces criticism for favoring big-name content creators, that doesn’t mean they’re immune to any kind of punishment. That was recently on display with the world’s second-largest YouTuber, PewDiePie. The Swedish content creator has been banned from the platform, which StreamerBans revealed on Twitter.
Neither Twitch nor PewDiePie have acknowledged the ban, but fans have been left scratching their heads over it. Here’s what happened, why he might have been banned, and when his channel might be back on Twitch.
Why was PewDiePie banned on Twitch?
It is unclear why PewDiePie was banned on Twitch, though the most likely explanation was broadcasting copyrighted materials. This stems from the nature of PewDiePie’s Twitch channel.
While PewDiePie has dabbled with Twitch several times over the years, he isn’t actually streaming in 2023. Instead, his Twitch channel is a 24/7 stream of videos from his YouTube videos. Not everything that is streamed on YouTube can be viewed on Twitch, so something like gameplay footage with copyrighted music or a cutscene taken from a licensed game could have resulted in the ban.
Unfortunately, a definite answer isn’t likely to come any time soon. PewDiePie is currently on a hiatus from social media due to the birth of his first child. Meanwhile, Twitch does not offer any kind of public explanation for its disciplinary measures.
The good news for PewDiePie fans is that they will likely be able to watch him again in the near future. PewDiePie’s ban from Twitch is not permanent and these bans typically last for three to seven days. This means his channel should be operational before the end of July, even if he’s not manning it himself.
What is the PewDiePie bridge incident?
References of PewDiePie and bridges are related to his use of racist language during a PUBG: Battlegrounds stream in 2018.
While livestreaming the game, PewDiePie’s team wound up in a firefight on a bridge. During the skirmish, he called an opponent a “f—–g n—-r.” He issued an apology for this on YouTube. His use of the racial epithet quickly went viral and sparked a deeper look at his content and online presence.
The most notable facet of this was PewDiePie’s following of several prominent figures that espoused racist and misogynist views on Twitter. PewDiePie responded by saying that criticism of him for following such individuals was an attempt to get “virtue points” by criticizing him and deleting his Twitter account. His account was later restored, but was completely scrubbed.
PewDiePie sparked a number of controversies due to racism, sexism, and anti-semitism in his content. But the furor that started with a shootout on a bridge in PUBG has become infamous to the point where it’s synonymous with PewDiePie controversy.
