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    Who Is Twitch Streamer Asmongold and Why Was He Banned, Explained

    Mars Posted on

    DJ Akademiks isn’t the only Twitch streamer to get banned this week.

    On October 15, creator Zack “Asmongold” Hoyt was temporarily suspended from the Amazon-owned live streaming platform. According to journalist Rod “Slasher” Breslau, Hoyt was suspended for 14 days. But who is he, what happened and why was one of his Twitch accounts temporarily destroyed? Don’t worry, we’ve got you.

    Who is Asmongold?

    If you’re in the gaming world, the name “Asmongold” should be familiar to you. But for those who don’t know, Hoyt is a streamer who has been uploading YouTube videos since at least 2009. He started out as a streamer. World of Warcraft creator, publishing strategies and thoughts around Blizzard Entertainment’s 2004 massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG).

    Eventually, he began streaming on Twitch around 2011, where he would continue to play the popular MMORPG alongside games like Call of Duty, Minecraft, Path of ExileAnd Rust. By broadcasting for several hours at a time, he has amassed millions of followers across all of his social media accounts, including his two main streaming channels: Asmongold and ZackRawrr.

    In addition to broadcasting regularly, Hoyt also co-owns two businesses.

    The first is One True King (or “OTK” for short), a Texas-based content creation organization featuring other gaming and lifestyle streamers like Emiru, Mizkif, Cyr, Nmplol, WillNeff ( the latter three appeared in TwitchCon Lords of debate show), and more. The other company, meanwhile, is a Texas-based gaming PC building company known as Starforge Systems.

    Why was Asmongold suspended?

    Twitch doesn’t often inform creators on the platform why they were banned, although that is expected to change in updates the company plans to make to its guidelines next year. The Amazon-owned live streaming platform similarly does not reveal when and why a creator was reprimanded. However, based on some contextual clues, we can make an educated guess as to why the popular game creator had his account suspended.

    Hoyt, who primarily streams on his second Twitch account ZackRawrr, was discussing the genocide in Gaza with his cat. During a several-hour broadcast, he made comments online that were considered racist and problematic.

    “If you want to look at genocide as the systematic killing of a group of people, then they have genocide enshrined in Sharia law right now,” Hoyt said of the Palestinian people, more than 41,500 of whom have been killed since the start of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. in October 2023, according to an October 1 report Reuters report. “So no, I’m not going to shout at the river when people who have genocide written into their laws are being genocided. I don’t care. They’re terrible people. It’s not even a question. It’s crazy that people don’t see it that way.

    Hoyt would go on to describe Palestinians as “not your allies” and “not the same as us,” saying they come from “an inferior culture that is horrible.” He said he did not support anything happening in the Middle East, saying he would not support “a group of people who would kill a gay or transgender person for existing.” His statements sparked rapid reaction online from all entities large and small. Some called him a “fascist,” others a “Nazi,” and a majority of internet users called him “stupid” because of his Islamophobic hate speech.

    What led to Asmongold’s suspension?

    Hoyt’s ZackRawrr account was suspended shortly after he made the streaming comments. Before being taken offline, however, he appeared in an October 14 stream with left-wing political commentator and Twitch broadcaster Hasan “HasanAbi” Piker to debate the issue. After about three and a half hours of discussing the conflict, Hoyt turned to X to sort of apologize for his remarks.

    “Looking back, I was way too much of an asshole about Palestine,” he said of his recent statements. “My fault. Of course, no one deserves to have their life destroyed, even if they do things or have opinions that I find regressive. You deserve more than me by saying stupid things like that, I’ll do better.

    This is where Hoyt’s ZackRawrr account was suspended. If you search for it, you’ll get a message saying it’s “temporarily unavailable due to a violation of Twitch’s Community Guidelines or Terms of Service.”

    Twitch makes it clear in its Community Guidelines and Terms of Service that any hateful rhetoric that encourages or glorifies violence against a group of people could result in the channel being suspended or banned. And because many interpreted Hoyt’s comments as that, the company quickly stepped in to take action. Hoyt still has his Asmongold account, which has over three million followers, but according to Twitch rules, he could be officially banned if he went live, as this act could be considered a form of ban evasion.

    Twitch told Complex in an email that it takes its rules very seriously.

    “We take enforcement action when there are violations of our community guidelines, including our Hateful Conduct Policy and other rules,” a Twitch representative said in an emailed statement.

    What does Asmongold have to say about everything?

    Hoyt uploaded a 20-minute video to his YouTube channel on October 16 addressing the situation. He apologized for his comments, acknowledging that what he said about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was “disgusting.”

    “I said I don’t care if innocent people are killed by any other force, by anything,” Hoyt said. “I think it’s a horrible, disgusting, petty thing to say. I don’t necessarily think it was really racist. (…) I’m sorry. I was a fucking asshole and I was”

    He admitted to being an “asshole,” opening up about how his personality morphed into a “petty, rude, insensitive, psychopathic version” of who he was. He cried as he recounted how people with family in Palestine contacted him. He clarified that due to his atheism, he has always had a negative opinion of religion, but that this should not affect the faith of others. He even said he was going to “cut back” on streaming while taking a step back from OTK and Starforge so he could “be a better version” of himself. It appears this situation was an eye-opening experience for Hoyt.

    Complex has contacted Asmongold for comment.

    Hoyt’s suspension is only 14 days. Since his sentence began on October 15, his ZackRawrr account is expected to be restored by October 29. We hope this is a good lesson for you to educate yourself before you speak.

    Mars
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