Hasanabi, a popular political streamer, has found himself in trouble again due to Twitch’s moderation policies. On January 29, 2026, he received a suspension from Twitch for the seventh time, and this was his first suspension this year.
This incident has re-sparked debate about what is considered “hate speech” and how Twitch enforces its rules and guidelines regarding political content.
What Happened During HasanAbi’s Stream?
The ban occurred when Hasan was streaming an episode related to the killing of Alex Pretti, an ICU nurse who was shot during an enforcement action involving Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). During his stream, Hasan reacted to the video and news about the Pretti incident, and speculated that ICE has been tracking Anti-ICE and Pro-Palestinian protestors using secret lists.
At one point during his stream, Hasan used the terms “Zionist pigs” and “Israel first monsters” while addressing what he considered political motivations related to immigration enforcement. Shortly thereafter, Hasan was banned from Twitch, and their standard violation message stated his account was unable to be accessed because of violating community guidelines.
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To date, Twitch has not provided any specific reasons for Hasan’s ban, nor have they provided any information on the duration of the ban. Hasan later posted on X that he expects his ban to last a couple of days, and he would be streaming on YouTube in the interim.
Reason Behind Twitch Taking Strict Action
While no official reason has been confirmed by Twitch for the suspension, several publications, including Dexerto and Newsweek, have all cited the Hateful Conduct Policy as the basis for this action being taken against him. Twitch guidelines make it very clear that “Zionist” used to describe someone in a derogatory manner is considered to be Hate Speech, while it allows for the discussion and criticism of Zionism as a political ideology.
The distinction between these two very different uses of the same word is at the heart of the controversy. Twitch believes that enforcement of its policies is being done in order to prevent encoded hate being perpetrated upon protected groups. Hasan and his supporters believe that he was simply engaging in political criticism of Zionism and did not commit Hate Speech.
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Hasan further fueled the fire of this controversy when he posted on X and advanced his argument that he has found inconsistencies with the way that Twitch is enforcing its moderation policies. Specifically, he makes the argument that terms such as “Nazi pig” or “Republican pig” are permissible, whereas “zionist pig” is not allowed.
In addition to these examples, Hasan contends that the Anti-Defamation League has influenced Twitch policy, which has created even more backlash and outrage from supporters and detractors alike.
HasanAbi’s Ban History And The Bigger Debate
This suspension is just the latest instance in Hasan’s long history of bans, starting back in 2021 when he was banned for saying a racial slur on his stream. This was followed by a suspension for the way he handled some material involving extremism in 2024, and then he was banned again in 2025 for what he claims were hyperbolic comments. The majority of his previous bans have been around 24 hours long, but some have been as long as one week.
Hasan’s continued pattern of being banned is leading to a much larger issue for streaming platforms, as political content has huge audiences; however, it also tends to push the limits of moderation on platforms much more quickly than entertainment-based channels do. Since Hasan gets tens of thousands of people watching him at any one time, the decision to enforce or take action against Hassan will create a lot of visibility and controversy.
For Twitch, the problem is that they have the right to express themselves freely, but they also have to enforce their rules equally around the world. For Hasan, every time he gets banned, it fuels his popularity with those who think that he has been a victim of too much moderation. But his critics say that if he continues to break the rules, it shows that he does not want to comply with the community guidelines of the site.
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HasanAbi is still not being allowed to be on the Twitch platform and currently streams exclusively on YouTube. Whether this incident will change his on stream speech or if Twitch will clarify its own policies remains to be seen.
