After Twitch removed one of the emotes from her stream, FaZe Clan streamer Kalei Renay made fun of the fact that she “hates the internet,” with fans joining in on the criticism of the Amazon-owned company.
Emotes play a significant role in the identity of Twitch streams, with well-known creators having their own special emotes that allow viewers to react appropriately to a variety of streaming moments. The thousands of subscribers to FaZe Kalei’s streams are no different; they indulge in her channel-specific emotes whenever the mood strikes the 22-year-old.
However, as a result of changes made by Twitch on July 30, Kalei’s long-standing emote, the “KaleiL,” was taken away from her stream. The emote, which mimics Fortnite’s infamous “Take the L” dance and shows a teddy bear forming the letter “L” on its forehead, has been used by viewers in chat for a while, frequently as a reaction to a depressing situation where things haven’t gone as planned.
Twitch, however, has since taken it down. Kalei disclosed the communication she received from the platform to confirm its removal in a July 30 tweet in which she expressed her hatred for the internet.
They did not provide any additional information, but they provided a link to their “Subscriber Emote Guide,” which states that any emotes found to be in conflict with community standards will be removed.
The majority of the responses to Kalei’s tweet were critical, with many people asking how a humorous emote could be considered prohibited content, and numerous well-known content producers, including ZLaner and AverageJonas, also commented in response to the action taken by Twitch.
ThatOneBritt, a fellow Twitch streamer, responded to say that they too had recently had their “L” emote removed. It’s possible that a change at Twitch’s HQ is driving a stronger stance against the use of “L” emotes across the board rather than just being related to Kalei’s channel.
Given that they don’t make public comments about strikes and punishment, Twitch hasn’t commented further than their communication to Kalei and probably won’t.
