France is to sue the Australian streaming platform Kick for "negligence" after a French user died during a livestream earlier this month, a government minister said on Tuesday. In a separate announcement, French prosecutors said they had opened an investigation into the platform.
The Kick platform has come under scrutiny in France after a 46-year-old Frenchman died during a 12-day live streaming marathon on his channel, which specialised in him enduring abuse or humiliation dished out by other participants.
"Kick did not do everything possible to stop the broadcast of dangerous content," Digital Affairs Minister Clara Chappaz said, accusing the platform of breaking a 2004 law regulating online content.
A post-mortem examination found that the man – real name Raphael Graven, known online as "Jean Pormanove" or "JP" – was not killed by trauma or by someone else.
Investigators probe death of French streamer broadcast live
In a separate announcement on Tuesday, French prosecutors said they had opened an investigation into the platform.
This probe will examine whether Kick "knowingly" broadcast "videos of deliberate attacks on personal integrity", Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said in a statement.
Investigators will also examine whether the streaming platform is in compliance with the European Union's Digital Services Act on content moderation.
Offenders risk up to 10 years in prison and a fine of €1 million.
'Creating a buzz'
Last week Chappaz called Graven’s death "an absolute horror" and said she had referred the matter to Arcom, the regulatory authority that oversees streaming platforms, as well as to the Pharos platform, which investigates illegal content and behaviour online.
After a post-mortem examination, two forensic doctors confirmed they found no "internal or external traumatic injuries" or burns, only a few bruises and healed lesions.
Nice prosecutor Damien Martinelli said Graven may have suffered from heart problems and was undergoing medical treatment for his thyroid gland.
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Graven first won an online following commentating on video games, such as Fortnite and FIFA, with an angry and provocative tone that became his trademark.
He then built a following of hundreds of thousands by putting on live shows which "were staged and aimed at creating a buzz," he told an inquiry in January, adding he made "sums of €6,000".
He denied being the victim of any violence.
Kick said all co-streamers involved in the event had been banned from the platform pending the outcome of the investigation.
It said it was also running a "complete re-evaluation" of its French content.
The platform is seen as having less stringent user terms than those of its livestreaming rival Twitch.
(with AFP)
