Twitch is one of the most popular live streaming platforms, attracting 30 to 35 million viewers a day. Great streamers draw in hundreds of thousands of followers and make millions of dollars.
Bad streamers end up on Kick.
Kick is the wild west of streaming; shallow, often unenforced guidelines allow for a whole different type of content. For example, committing crimes and harassing people in real time are popular genres.
A well-known perpetrator is 21-year-old Jack Doherty. His age is important to mention because he looks and acts like a 12-year-old.
Doherty rose to fame on YouTube and Kick through the ancient art of prank content. Unlike those before him, Doherty’s pranks are unscripted and performed on complete strangers. In fact, his content is so revolutionary it’s unfair to call these bits pranks; they’re more like harassment.
Chasing people around while antagonizing them for views is terrible, but Doherty’s career ended more violently than anyone could have imagined.
Back in October, while live on Kick, Doherty crashed his McLaren because reading chat is infinitely more important than, you know, driving. Doherty and his cameraman needed to be pulled from the vehicle, and the cameraman was seen bleeding from his head as Doherty screamed and cried about his car.
This incident finally got him banned from Kick.
On Wednesday, police visited Doherty’s home after his girlfriend called them, alleging domestic violence. It’s safe to say this “man” won’t be live anytime soon.
Following in Doherty’s footsteps is not Twitch, not Kick, but Rumble streamer Johnny Somali. Another streamer banned from Kick. His crime? Causing international ruckus.
Yes indeed, Somali took Kick pranks global and ended up in a South Korean jailhouse.
Korean laws, and subsequently culture, are much less lax than the United States and don’t take kindly to bumping trains and yelling at strangers.
Somali faces five charges in Korea: two counts of obstruction of business, two counts of violating the Minor Crimes Act and one count of violating the Special Act on Sexual Violence Crimes. Yeah, not an impressive rap sheet.
At his trial back in early March, Somali attempted to enter the courtroom in a MAGA hat (because of course) and plead guilty to the aforementioned charges. As the trial concluded last week, Somali will be facing prison time.
The exact length of his sentence has yet to be decided, but these findings are a step in the right direction.
In the era of always-on Internet usage, more people are participating in or engaging with these “crime streams.” As if endangering yourself or others wasn’t bad enough, why not capture evidence for the prosecution at the same time?
Stranger pranks and reckless driving are two immensely popular activities for Kick streamers, and the platform seems to care little about the content they let live. Believe it or not, this entire issue boils down to capitalism.
Kick is not a greatly popular platform compared to Twitch or even TikTok’s live streaming community. So their lax rules bring in the sketchiest of streamers and their underdeveloped fans, creating a niche lineup of uncouth content raking in money no other platform has a stake in.
If you see something, say something. Moderation on Kick is negligible, but these creators are lucky no one, including themselves, has died.
It’s really only a matter of time, because there are tons of these streamers. Pushing someone who can’t swim into a lake or getting a weapon pulled on you is a ticking time bomb, with the explosion being 25 to life.
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