After the Amazon-owned site deleted an apparently innocent chicken gesture, very popular streamer Chica jokingly hinted at a career switch from Twitch to young upstart Kick.
For Twitch, 2023 hasn’t exactly gotten off to the best start. The boat has definitely been rocked in recent weeks, from massive layoffs affecting thousands of workers to a change at the very top with experienced CEO Emmett Shear quitting after 16 years. Kick, a rising challenger that has been gaining ground lately for better or worse, is mostly being led by internet celebrity Trainwrecks. After having one of their allegedly innocent emotes blocked, a different Twitch celebrity has now teased, albeit in fun, leaving the platform amid its difficulties. Although this is nothing new in and of itself—various emotes are frequently banned for breaking Twitch terms of service—this specific incident has gone viral on social media due to the nature of the tiny chat symbol.
Due to Chica’s motif of cute chicken emotes, one with the nickname “chicaL” was added. In this emote, the chicken held its hand in the shape of a “L” to its head. The site blocked the user for “targeted insults, bullying, and threatening or inciting abuse” based on this alone.
Chica just tweeted the verdict from Twitch along with a link to Kick to inform her followers of the news. In the rare case that she did make the switch, she has already established a verified account on the platform, although this seems doubtful given that the post was done in jest. Numerous fans commented below, shocked that this unassuming emoticon had been taken down for the aforementioned reasons. “What is happening over here?” one fellow personality asked. “Ain’t no way,” another added. “What is Twitch even doing anymore?”
LuluLuvely replied; “That’s actually so ridiculous.
Anne Munition questioned; “For what?”
Other streamers on the network also discussed how the same crackdown on emotes has affected them. Kalei, a FaZe star, said, “Same.” Dakotaz said, “They took mine too.”
None other than Trainwrecks himself responded to the news, adding nothing more to the conversation than a series of laughing emojis.
