Why Did RaKai Get Banned on Twitch? What We Know About the Two-Year Suspension

Twitch streamer RaKai has found himself in hot water, and he’s now temporarily banned from the platform. The livestreaming giant hit 17-year-old Quvonn “RaKai” Linder with a two-year suspension for “illegal activities,” cutting off one of the fastest-growing channels on Twitch.

RaKai’s rise has been fast and very public. In a short time, he built a massive audience with more than 1.8 million followers on Twitch, over 2.5 million on TikTok, and roughly 1.3 million on Instagram. He’s originally from Syracuse and now lives in Atlanta, where he built an audience in Twitch’s “Just Chatting” category with messy, off-the-cuff streams. But his on-camera antics kept pushing the line, and now Twitch has pulled the plug.

On Dec. 2, RaKai posted a screenshot from his creator dashboard to X showing that Twitch had suspended his channel for 730 days. The notice listed the category as “Illegal Activities” and set the suspension to end on Dec. 2, 2027, with ad eligibility removed until Dec. 31, 2027. On X, RaKai kept his reaction short, posting the screenshot with a one-word caption, “WTF.”

Twitch has not publicly named the exact actions that triggered the “illegal activities” strike. That detail matters because much of the online conversation right now relies on clips and speculation rather than an official explanation from Twitch. Even so, fans continue to point to two recent incidents from RaKai’s streams as the likely breaking point.

One moment was a Fortnite wager between RaKai and fellow streamer Clix. According to The Express Tribune, RaKai went into the challenge with a gifted 99-0 lead but still lost after failing to secure a single elimination. The two had reportedly agreed that if RaKai lost, he would pay Clix $6,500. Instead of paying, RaKai doubled down with some pretty wild trash talk. Moments later, his stream cut out, and he later showed the Twitch warning citing “Illegal Activities.”

The day before that wager, RaKai streamed from inside a Walmart. Viewers watched as he picked up a bouquet of flowers, handed it to a bystander, and appeared to walk away without paying. When someone asked if he had already paid, he answered, “Yes I did.” This is at least the sixth time RaKai’s account has violated platform rules, including a previous June suspension for streaming while driving and looking at his phone.

RaKai’s Twitch career is not permanently over, at least for now. The suspension notice states that Twitch will restore his account after he serves the full ban. Twitch also has the authority to reduce bans, and the platform has reversed long suspensions before. IShowSpeed, for example, had his indefinite Twitch ban lifted after about two years. Other creators like Dr. Disrespect and Destiny remain off the platform after serious policy violations.

The streamer is no stranger to controversy and has even been suspended from other platforms. Two weeks before the ban, RaKai also caught a TikTok Live suspension within minutes of going live after he tried to sell Duke Dennis’ ultra-rare Freddy Krueger Nike SB Dunks, worth around $80,000, for $500 on stream. According to MSN, TikTok moderators shut down the broadcast almost immediately.