On Oct. 15, Zach Hoyt, a Twitch Streamer prominently known by his alias “Asmongold,” went on a sudden tirade in a live stream over the genocide happening against Palestinians. In this very short rant, Hoyt makes claims that you should not feel any sympathy for Palestine, as the people born there have “an inferior culture” that goes against Western values. He described them as inherently terrible people, with “genocide baked into their laws.”
After receiving a Twitch suspension that lasts 14 days, Hoyt uploaded an apology video onto his YouTube channel. In the video, he claimed he was attempting to criticize religious extremism rather than the culture and ethnicity of Palestinians but did admit it was wrong of him to categorize all Palestinians as a whole as religious extremists. Despite this, he doubled down on the fact that he believed what he said was not racist, just a mistake in his wording spoken in the heat of the moment. He also went into his personal life, admitting that streaming had taken over his entire life. He claimed that when he streams, he gets in a hateful state where he almost feels “psychopathic.” Finishing the video, Hoyt announced that he would be taking a small break from his streams and would try to promote more positivity on them when he picks them back up.
Having a large platform of 5.4 million combined followers comes with many benefits, but it also comes with even more responsibilities. Saying that a population is “inferior” with a culture that has “genocide baked-in” and not considering that to be racist is oxymoronic. Additionally, telling people not to feel sympathy for Palestinians while they are experiencing genocide is not something that can just be excused as being in the heat of the moment.
Hoyt knows he has not been in a healthy mental state for a while now, but instead of stepping away from the stream, he continued on a hateful rant. He lashed out about a current event he did little research on, criticized a group of people, diminished their culture and claimed them to be inferior. Whether or not Hoyt realizes this, the words he spoke that stream were similar to those used by historic hate groups to justify violence against other populations. With the following he has, promoting hate speech this severe is more than deserving of suspension; a permanent ban being even more sufficient.
Hoyt has violated three of Twitch’s official rules for hateful conduct: “Suggest that a victim of a hate crime deserved to be harmed,” “Content suggesting that protected group members are sub-human, inhuman, or impure” and “Promote, glorify, threaten, or advocate violence, physical harm, or death against individuals or groups on the basis of a protected characteristic.” Palestinians are losing more of their resources, homes, land and families than ever. To violate these rules and promote death to a group in this climate is more than deserving of an indefinite ban for what Twitch claims is for the most serious offenses. Even receiving a maximum sentence of a 30-day suspension would be more fitting than the 14-day slap on the wrist Hoyt got for his hateful acts.
Hoyt, someone who has been streaming for over 10 years, has full knowledge of his own limits for streaming as well as the guidelines for it. He knows his audience and the effects anything he says could have on them. Wishing death to a group of people experiencing genocide is not a small mistake that can be made up for by promising to be kinder in the future. Something of this nature only deserves a loss of a platform entirely, for the sake of the people he has harmed and for his own.
