"We do have a process": Twitch CEO Dan Clancy provides details on reinstating permanently banned Twitch streamers' channels

Twitch CEO Dan Clancy has provided details on reinstating permanently banned Twitch streamers' channels. During the 34th episode of the twitch patch_notes livestream, Mary Kish, head of community, read out a "spicy question" from a community member, who asked if they could expect a "mass unban" of permanently banned content creators:

"'With the policy change, should we expect a mass unbanning of permanently banned streamers?' It's a spicy question."

Dan Clancy responded, elaborating on the previously existing reinstatement system:

"We had a policy around applying for reinstatement for some time now. And we've worked, especially over the last year, to make that very clear. So, indefinitely suspended streamers could then apply for reinstatement. It's usually six after months the suspension, depends upon the severity of the suspension."

Clancy then discussed the strike expiration policy that was recently implemented on the Amazon-owned platform. While claiming that Twitch "does have a process" for reinstating indefinitely banned streamers' channels, he said:

This person is probably referring to the change we just announced a few weeks ago about strike expiration, and we did go through, and for those streamers that for the last six months that would not have been suspended if not the new strike expiration policy, we did go ahead and unbanned them. If this is something that affects you, please apply for reinstatement. It is indefinite, it is not permanent. We do have a process by which people can get back on Twitch and engage with the community."

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What is the strike expiration policy that Twitch CEO Dan Clancy spoke about?

On February 19, 2025, Twitch announced an update to its enforcement system with the goal of allowing streamers to track their violation history. It also announced that violations imposed on streamers' channels will now expire and drop off after a set period.

Here's what the live-streaming platform wrote in an X post:

"Violations now expire: Most violations will expire and drop off of your account after a set amount of time. Higher severity violations will take longer to expire, and violations of our highest harm policies won’t drop off of an account. Escalating consequences: In order to hold community members accountable for repeated harmful behavior, we’re introducing escalating consequences for repeated violations of the same policy."

This update received a lot of attention, with several netizens hoping that Adin Ross would be unbanned two years after being indefinitely suspended.