French court rejects blocking Kick in response to streamer Jean Pormanove’s death

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A French court decided not to ban the streaming platform Kick across the country after the death of streamer Jean Pormanove. The court felt a nationwide ban would be too extreme a response.

Raphaël Graven, who was popular online as Jean Pormanove, passed away on August 18th at the age of 46 while broadcasting live on the platform Kick. Reports in French media describe the ten days before his death as a period of intense hardship, involving online personalities Owen ‘Naruto’ Cenazendotti and Safine Hamadi.

The investigation looked into claims of physical abuse, being forced to take drugs, and severe sleep loss. So far, no one has been charged with a crime, and a medical examination found that Pormanove’s death wasn’t a direct result of someone else’s actions. Both content creators involved insist the events were agreed upon and part of a planned performance.

Pormanove’s mother has spoken out in their defense, describing them as “wonderful people” who only treated him poorly on one occasion – at the gym.

Even so, France’s Digital Affairs and AI Minister, Clara Chappaz, strongly criticized the streams as abusive and called for consequences for the platform Kick.

French court rules against nationwide Kick ban as site owners remain under investigation

During a court hearing on November 26th, the French government claimed that the streaming platform Kick was trying to establish an online space free from regulations. Prosecutors asked the court to take down all channels associated with Jean Pormanove and requested internet providers to block access to Kick in France for half a year.

Le Figaro reports that the legal request used a French law designed to quickly remove damaging content from the internet. While the law allows courts to act fast, prosecutors admitted blocking the entire website might be too extreme, and suggested removing specific channels instead.

The court ultimately rejected the request to block Kick.

Kick and its leaders are still being investigated by authorities in Paris and Nice as part of a criminal case. If formally charged, they could face up to seven years in prison and fines of up to €500,000, according to the law.

So, it turns out the French authorities aren’t just looking into Pormanove, they’re also checking out his old streaming group, Lokal. They’ve popped up again on Twitch as OGK Decoy, and it’s a mess. Apparently, it’s run by Gwen Cenazendotti – Owen ‘Naruto’ Cenazendotti’s brother – and people are saying they’re dodging Twitch’s rules and continuing that awful staged bullying stuff, but with a whole new group of creators being targeted. It’s really frustrating to see this happening again.

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2025-12-22 19:19