"I will still find a way": HasanAbi shares his plan to shift to YouTube for multi-streaming after the recent Twitch ban

Twitch suspended HasanAbi Piker for 24 hours on May 25, 2025, because he violated the site's rule against "improper handling of terrorist propaganda." This was after he read parts of the suspected shooter's manifesto on his May 23 show.

As soon as he got his job back, Piker went on social media and his YouTube channel to oppose what he thought was an overly broad regulation that limited press freedom and journalism. He also said he wanted to expand his streaming presence, especially by introducing the ability to broadcast many videos at once to his YouTube channel.

HasanAbi plans to shift to YouTube for multi-streaming after the recent Twitch ban: details

Elias Rodriguez was the individual who shot and murdered two Israeli embassy workers outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C., on May 22. HasanAbi looked into Rodriguez's manifesto on his May 23 broadcast. Twitch banned the account for 24 hours for "sharing content related to terrorist or violent extremist groups" and "improper handling of terrorist propaganda."

Piker made a post on X.com on 25th May 2025:

“I covered the motives of the Israeli embassy staff shooter. Twitch TOS dictates a suspension for even critical examination of the manifesto. I believe this is a bad policy for news and press freedom. I’ll take the suspension, but hope Twitch changes this policy in the future.”

He said that the policy would make it harder to cover important live events and emphasized that his goal was journalistic: to understand the shooter's point of view, not to support it.

Piker put up a video on his own YouTube account with the title "I got suspended again," only a few hours after he was restored on May 26. He began by stating again how important it is to him to break news in real time, and then he made a short but explicit promise:

“Even if Twitch won’t allow this kind of coverage, I will still find a way—I’m going to start simulcasting on YouTube, and wherever else I need to be to keep this stream alive.”

HasanAbi didn't go into much detail, but in general, multi-streaming means providing the same live feed to more than one platform at the same time. You can do this using tools like Restream.io or OBS's Multiple RTMP plugin. Piker expects that this will make it such that a change in policy or suspension on any one platform won't be able to completely stop him from reporting.

HasanAbi's ban and the accompanying multi-stream announcement point out a basic contradiction: live-streaming platforms must find a way to reconcile their duty as journalists to inform and evaluate in real time with their duty to keep users safe and enforce policies.

Twitch could change its policy on "terrorism and extremist content" because of this. For example, it might make it clearer that things like analysis or journalism are not allowed.

The popularity of live news broadcasting on YouTube and other sites might lead to the formation of new "news" categories or the setting of new guidelines for how to control press-style content.

Instead of merely trying to get people to watch, the episode shows how important it is for artists to use different venues to maintain their editorial independence. HasanAbi's short suspension from Twitch showed how hard it is to keep press freedom and live-streaming businesses' content control procedures in balance.

HasanAbi has indicated that he is moving to YouTube multi-streaming because he thinks that cross-platform resilience will be the best way to shield himself from regulatory issues. His decision safeguards his ability to report in real time and signals a bigger shift in how live news is produced and consumed in the streaming age.

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