Updated on 1/7 at 6:00 am with a statement from Twitch.
Twitch appears to have re-banned an Australian streamer named Luke ‘MrDeadMoth’ Munday after he allegedly assaulted his pregnant partner in the midst of a live stream last month — but not before Munday temporarily returned to the platform in the midst of his legal woes.
Munday’s second ban today was cheered by members of the Twitch community on social media (see below), though some expressed dismay that it had taken the platform so long to reach the decision after the Fortnite player’s brief return to the service. Munday last counted roughly 8,300 followers.
Subscribe for daily Tubefilter Top Stories
The alleged assault occurred on Dec. 9, when Munday could be seen on stream arguing with his partner over missing dinnertime, Kotaku reports. Munday’s partner could be heard offscreen, with multiple items being thrown across the camera. During the alleged incident, Munday also reportedly left and returned to his desk several times. Hours after the stream, he was arrested and charged with assault, Kotaku reports, whereupon he was also temporarily banned from Twitch. (Munday is expected to enter a plea deal in his native Australia on Jan. 10).
After his temporary ban, however, viewers were shocked when Munday returned to Twitch on Dec. 31 with a (now-deleted) stream entitled Positivity. Kotaku points that Twitch’s policies state “most violations will result in a temporary suspension of one day up to 30 days, and a strike on the account.” However, fans were outraged that the platform had categorized Munday’s alleged on-camera assault as a standard channel violation.
As of this morning, however, it appears as though Munday’s account has been banned once again. (Munday’s YouTube channel also appears to be inaccessible). While onlookers cheered the decision on social media, it remains to be seen whether the move is permanent.
“Protecting the integrity of our community is incredibly important to us,” a Twitch spokesperson told Tubefilter in a statement. “We want everyone on Twitch to have a safe and positive experience and work constantly toward that goal. Part of that work includes examining our policies and practices when we find they don’t properly address specific incidents to ensure we’re adapting as the Twitch community grows.”
.@MrDeadMoth‘s channel has been re-suspended! Hopefully it’s permanent. No one should be allowed to abuse their wife on @Twitch and still have a channel after pic.twitter.com/oDuEzUHlti
— Miss Noodle 🍜 (@_MissNoodle) January 4, 2019
The fact it took what it did is an absolute disgrace. I’m glad they got pressured into it, but it’s dumb that it took this much effort to reban MrDeadMoth after all that.
Statement that I didn’t think I’d be saying, but I think Amazon needs to come down super hard on Twitch. https://t.co/6Ta0kcxJJf
— BiffMcSkylark 🕹️🌯 (@BiffMcSkylark) January 4, 2019
