Twitch streamer Pedguin has been left in the lurch after their emote - depicting Winnie the Pooh in a bikini in a hot tub - has been removed due to "sexual content or nudity."
The hot tub meta is a trend that has been a matter of contention over the past couple of weeks. It involves a streamer sitting in a pool wearing a swimsuit while they chat and complete challenges with their viewers. Twitch is used for all sorts of streams, from woodworking to bodypainting to gaming to chess, so on the surface, this trend shouldn't have raised eyebrows. However, a proportion of Twitch users argued that streaming while wearing a swimsuit is a violation of the platform's policies on sexual content and nudity. Others are cognisant of the fact that wearing a swimsuit in a hot tub is contextually appropriate and the only sexualisation that's going on is through the viewer themselves and not the streamer. And, the remaining few have jumped on the trend in their own way, like dressing up as Magikarp or celebrating their birthday with pals.
Honestly, this isn't even the wildest thing that's happened while streamers have been live on Twitch. Check out a compilation of our top wins and fails below.
Though Twitch has stated plainly that there is no problem with streaming while wearing a swimsuit, detractors continued to call the trend "pathetic" and "trash," and it was evident that the issue wasn't going away any time soon. That's why there is now a Pools, Hot Tubs, and Beaches category for streamers to use. One might have thought that the dust had settled with this announcement, but streamer Pedguin has been blindsided with the removal of their hot tub themed emote.
The pedTub emote is Winnie the Pooh wearing a bright red bikini stuffed with cash, standing emotionlessly in a blue paddling pool. To be honest, it's funny. But Twitch didn't share the same view and the emote got the boot for "imagery of sexual content or nudity." Pedguin is stunned to say the least. "This baffles me as sexual suggestiveness is a spectrum that involves some degree of personal interpretation of where the line falls," said the streamer on Twitter. "Why does Twitch find my pedTub sexual?" At the time of writing, Twitch and Pedguin haven't managed to find a middle ground for what is and isn't appropriate for this emote, though one fan joked, "I guess we [need] a new category for emotes, that should sort this out."
Featured Image Credit: Pedguin via Twitter, Twitch
