As the war in Ukraine continues, so does the severity of the economic sanctions inflicted on Russia. This time, Russian Twitch streamers are claiming to have stopped receiving their earnings, after the live-streaming service joined the sanction effort against Putin's regime.
A subsidiary of Amazon, Twitch is one of the most popular video game live-streaming services in the world, with a considerable number of users - more than 4% of the total - being based in Russia.
Popular streamers on Twitch can earn money by sharing the advertisement revenue generated from their streams; additionally, users can subscribe to streamers' channels by paying a monthly fee, obtaining access to various perks, such as special emoticons or live chat privileges.
Russian streamers are receiving an e-mail that declares Twitch's intention of complying with the international sanctions related to the invasion of Ukraine, thus stopping their payments. This comes after a long series of measures already imposed on Russia, many of those coming from gaming companies, like the block on sales imposed by some of the biggest names in the video game industry.
Twitch does appear to leave a glimmer of hope for its Russian streamers, stating that it will do its best to proceed with the payments "once it will be allowed to do so." However, with the third round of ceasefire talks having amounted to little, there isn't much hope for a swift resolution of the conflict and, therefore, of the sanctions. To make matter worse for Russian users, a recent move by the government criminalized the "spread of fake news" regarding the Russian military, forcing the video-focused social network TikTok to temporarily suspend live-streaming and new content.
Many Russian streamers have declared their intent to continue streaming despite the lack of payment, perhaps hoping for a quick end of the international crisis. It's a sad irony that the sanctions impact even individuals hostile to the government's action, like Alexey "Jesus AVGN" Gubanov, a Russian streamer who emigrated to the US and despised Putin, and that has seen his earnings blocked nonetheless.
While the economic sanctions could heavily impact Russia both in the near and long term, another dangerous threat is looming on Russian society: that of government-enacted censorship. Spreading, even accidentally, fake news related to the Ukrainian conflict, like the famous Ghost of Kyiv story, could have dire consequences for common Russians.
Source: Dexerto