Streaming platform Twitch has asked for permission to file a revised pleading in its case against several users who flooded live chats with hate speech and obscene messages, a practice known as “hate raids,” in August 2021.
The proposed filing seeks to drop defendant Chris Vostermans, the person behind the screen name “CruzzControl,” pursuant to an agreed-to permanent injunction, and add user “Mango” as a new defendant per recently uncovered information about their involvement.
As reported last year, the defendants, users “CreatineOverdose” and “CruzzControl” conducted hate raids, or targeted attacks aimed at streamers from “marginalized groups.” During such an incident, victims’ chat feeds were reportedly barraged with hateful, racist, sexist, and homophobic language and content, the complaint specifies.
Though the company claims it took swift action to stop the raids, it still seeks to hold the users accountable not only for violating its terms of use, but also for breach of contract, fraud in the inducement, and unfair competition under state law.
The new information concerns “Mango,” known by other aliases too, and reveals more details about the proposed defendant’s involvement in the raids. Twitch claims that its investigation has shown that multiple accounts linked to Mango “have engaged in hate speech on Twitch and employ profile images containing swastikas and nudity, which would appear on hate raid victims’ channels when Mango used these accounts during hate raids.”
Further, the user purportedly “made a false call to emergency services in an attempt to bring armed police officers to a streamer’s address without that streamer’s knowledge and created Twitch accounts with usernames that contained hate raid victims’ residential addresses, which were visible to any Twitch users or website visitors.”
The filing claims that Twitch satisfies the four-factor test applied by courts posed with a prospective amended filing. Among other things, the motion to amend claims that the complaint would not unduly burden the defendants, would not be futile, and comes in good faith.
Twitch is represented by Perkins Coie LLP.
