Twitch Bans Streaming of Unlicensed Gambling Sites

Twitch has announced that the platform will ban all streaming of unlicensed gambling sites such as Stake.com, Rollbit.com, and Duelbits.com. The decision comes after several high-profile streamers have threatened to leave the platform.

A hot debate has been active on social media ever since the streamer xQc in May revealed that he made money on casino promotions while his followers had lost $119 million, playing on shared links. Prominent streamers on Twitch have called for a ban of online casino streams.

It is not allowed to share links or referral codes to any site including slots, roulettes, or dice games, on Twitch, but the rules have been circumvented several times according to the platform. Twitch is now banning all streaming of gambling sites that aren’t licensed in the US or other jurisdictions, starting October 18th.

The company writes in a public statement: “These sites will include Stake.com, Rollbit.com, Duelbits.com, and Roobet.com. However, we may identify others as we move forward.”

Twitch states that the mentioned sites don’t provide sufficient consumer protection. However, the platform will continue to allow material from sites focusing on sports betting, fantasy sports, and poker.

The debate about banning casino streams started with the Canadian streamer xQc’s stream a few months ago, where he revealed that his followers had lost $119 million in a short time while he was earning a commission. Pokimane, the most prominent female streamer on the platform, was one of the people who called out for a ban.

“Why are people trying so hard to make gambling seem less worse by comparing it to other things. It’s like, we can still all agree that this is really fucking bad, right. That’s the point at the end of the day”, Pokimane said in a post on her Twitch Channel.

Other streamers like Asmongold also called for a ban. The topic became super hot again the past weekend (September 17-18) when several streamers revealed that the British streamer Sliker had scammed them. He had borrowed money to cover a gambling addiction, and it’s believed that he owes friends, followers, and other streamers at least $300,000. 

Sliker made a public excuse on his Twitch channel, saying that his addiction didn’t have anything to do with online casino games and that he mainly gambled on sports. That hasn’t stopped people from demanding a ban on casino games, though.

The debate will definitely continue. Some people are probably happy with Twitch’s ban of unlicensed online casinos, while other who wants all gambling sites to be banned will continue to post under the hashtag #TwitchStopGambling.

Twitch is an American live streaming service owned by the multinational technology giant Amazon. The platform was launched in 2011, and the content can be watched live or after it has been recorded.