Who is Pokimane and why was she banned from Twitch?

TWITCH is a live-streaming platform that allows gamers and content creators to share their day-to-day activities with followers.

On Friday, January 7, 2022, popular user Pokimane was issued a 48-hour ban from the site.

Born on May 14, 1996, Pokimane's real name is Imane Anys.

Known for her livestreams on Twitch, the Moroccan-Canadian internet personality rose to fame after broadcasting video game content - specifically League of Legends and Fortnite.

Pokimane is also a member of OfflineTV, an online social entertainment group of content creators.

The 25-year-old has been streaming on Twitch since 2013.

By 2017, she was one of the most-followed accounts on the platform. The same year, she won the Shorty Award for Best Twitch Streamer.

She was a featured honoree in the 2021 Forbes 30 Under 30 list, and has over 8.5million followers on the streaming platform.

Aside from Twitch, Pokimane is also active on YouTube, where she has multiple accounts: Pokimane, Pokimane Too, Pokimane VODS, Poki ASMR, and imane.

The fan-favorite streamer has stepped into more on-screen roles as well - she had a cameo appearance in the 2021 film Free Guy, as well as the music video for Sub Urban's Inferno.

Why was she banned from Twitch?

She livestreamed Avatar: The Last Airbender episodes to over 25K viewers, which violates copyright laws.

DMCA - Digital Millennium Copyright Act - criminalizes the production and dissemination of technology, devices, or services intended to circumvent measures that control access to copyrighted works.

Typically, copyrighted music sees more flack from unpermitted use than the TV and film industry does, however, Twitch is in control of monitoring what they will and will not allow on their platform.

A new trend on Twitch has seen creators watching various television shows and movies on livestreams, commentating along with their followers and answering questions throughout.

"The fire nation attacked," Pokimane joked on Twitter, alluding to the series that resulted in her temporary ban.

"Confirmed 48 hour suspension! See you guys monday morning for a 12 hour comeback stream," she continued.

Twitch is a live-streaming platform where users are able to stream what they are doing in real-time.

Twitch streamers can "broadcast" their gameplay or activity by sharing their screens with subscribers or fans who can hear and watch them play live.

Typically gamers use Twitch to show other users tricks and tips on how to complete levels of various video games.

However, Twitch can be used by anyone interested in lifestyle casting about subjects like music or food.

The platform was officially launched in 2011 and since then has amassed millions of users.

There are both free and paid versions of Twitch, with paid tiers removing ads and giving users access to more robust social, streaming, and storage features.