Twitch Suspends Streamer After She Wears Chun-Li Cosplay [Updated]

Last night, Twitch suspended art streamer Quqco after she livestreamed herself wearing cosplay of Chun-Li from Street Fighter, Dexerto first reported.

Quqco is a small streamer who often draws pictures from her favorite gaming franchises live on Twitch. Yesterday, she was wearing Chun-Li’s signature blue qipao and bun covers, and soon after, she received notice of a three-day suspension for “sexually suggestive content or activities,” according to an email from Twitch posted to her Twitter. The outfit features a thigh-high slit that is sometimes considered risqué.

“I actually bought one size up to ensure that the slit wasn’t too high,” said Quqco in an email to Kotaku. “The slit of this dress is cut lower than some runner shorts I own.”

Twitch’s guidelines surrounding sexually explicit content are vague, a widespread allegation waged by female streamers for years. “Attire intended to be sexually suggestive and nudity are prohibited,” Twitch’s community guidelines read. For streams like Quqco’s, they “recommend attire appropriate for public settings, such as what you would wear on a public street, or to a mall or restaurant.” The video in question has since been removed, so it’s difficult to tell if there was a particular moment that may have been flagged by Twitch. Twitch did not respond to Kotaku’s request for comment by the time of publication.

Twitch previously suspended Quqco after she cosplayed Mai Shiranui from The King of Fighters. At the time, Quqco wrote on Twitter that she was banned because she was report brigaded by the popular subreddit Livestreamfail. “I was sexually harassed,” she wrote in a now-deleted tweet. “All I wore was a Mai cosplay while I was drawing.” Quqco believes this recent suspension was also due to “a group of trolls who have been targeting me for mass reporting for a while...I am immediately reported because I’ve been branded a thot,” she said, adding that she doesn’t do physical activities like squatting or dancing on stream.

Kotaku saw one now-removed comment on Livestreamfail in which a user said, “Lmao saw her streaming again today and instantly reported the thot,” although we were unable to confirm whether she was brigaded. Brigading is not an uncommon problem for female streamers; Kotaku has previously reported on self-appointed boob police who trawl through Twitch’s directories searching for and reporting women they believe are violating Twitch’s terms of service. Despite this, the moderators of Livestreamfail don’t believe the suspension is connected to the subreddit’s activity. “Considering the thread was submitted after her ban by Twitch it’s pretty hard to argue that it’s the result of a LSF brigade,” one told Kotaku.

“I am sure there are other girls who are facing the same difficulty as me,” said Quqco. “The problem is that there are so many trolls and ill-tended people who will band together to report a streamer.”

Updated: 9/16/2019, 1:26 p.m. ET: The text of this article was updated to include new comment from the moderators of the Livestreamfail subreddit.