Australian streaming platform Kick has been accused of gross negligence by France’s government after a man died on stream following torture and abuse.
Streaming platform Kick has been accused of gross negligence by the French government following the death of Raphaël “Jean Pormanove” Graven. Graven had been completing a 12-day livestreaming marathon on his channel, which saw the streamer being abused and humiliated by other participants.
Graven appeared alongside three other regular streaming partners throughout the broadcast that led up to his death. Throughout the broadcast, the streamers known as Naruto and Safine would physically abuse and berate Graven.
As a result, France’s government has launched an investigation into the death of Graven and Kick’s involvement in allegedly promoting circumstances that may have influenced it.
“Kick did not do everything possible to stop the broadcast of dangerous content,” said the digital affairs minister, Clara Chappaz, accusing the platform of breaking a 2004 law regulating online content.
Kick would later release a statement the following day, writing:
“We are committed to fully cooperating with the authorities in this process. Additionally, we have terminated our collaboration with the former French social media agency and are undertaking a comprehensive review of our French content.”
Prosecutor Damien Martinelli said on Thursday (August 21) that medical examiners believed Mr Graven’s death “was not traumatic in origin” and “not related to the intervention of a third party,” Graven shared.
“The probable causes of death appear to be medical and/or toxicological,” he said.
On Tuesday, the Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau announced that France had opened an investigation into the platform to examine whether Kick had knowingly broadcast “videos of deliberate attacks on personal integrity”.
Investigators have shared that they will also be considering if the platform is complying with the EU Digital Services Act on content moderation.
This wasn’t the only incident last week that saw Kick facing scrutiny over streamer conduct.
On Saturday, August 23, streamer Raja “Rampage” Jackson livestreamed himself fighting wrestler Syko Stu at a KnokX pro wrestling show. Jackson openly streamed himself pummeling an unconscious Smith over 20 times, and had to be escorted out of the ring. Smith’s brother revealed earlier today that the wrestler was in “stable, but critical care.”
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