Twitch And Kick Streaming Services Banned In Turkey

Turkey's National Lottery Administration shocked the Turkish gaming community after announcing the ban on the popular streaming platforms Kick and Twitch. According to the Information and Communication Technologies Authority's (BTK) website, the General Directorate of the National Lottery Administration decided to ban Kick and Twitch without stating any official reasons. 

According to the rumours, the National Lottery Administration banned popular streaming platforms in Turkey because of the gambling streams. While Turkey has banned gambling, the gambling streams on Twitch and Kick might go against Turkey's law since providing a place or opportunity to gamble is also a crime. 

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Twitch And Kick Streaming Services Are No Longer Accessible In Turkey

On 20 February 2024, the Information and Communication Technologies Authority (BTK) banned Kick after a thorough investigation against Kick. According to the Turkish journalist Ibrahim Haskoloğlu, BTK had launched an investigation against Kick, stating:

BTK launched an investigation against Kick, which works with international gambling companies, includes gambling on its platform and entered Turkey in recent months.

Ibrahim reported BTK's investigation on 13 February 2024, and a week later, BTK banned Kick in Turkey. Per Ibrahim's post on X (former Twitter), a Turkish official stated that Kick's entry into Turkey was to attract Turkish youth to roulette. After the Kick ban, BTK switched their target to the American video live-streaming platform Twitch on 22 February 2024. 

Turkish authorities are very active in getting rid of applications that go against their rules and ethics. With gambling being considered a demeanour in Turkey, BTK's investigation and action against Kick and Twitch resulted in the takedown of the streaming platforms in Turkey. 

After the bans, fans are questioning the prospects of streaming in Turkey since the Turkish Twitch and Kick streamers will look for an alternative. Responding to the news, several viewers and streamers are asking whether the authorities will ban YouTube in future since many streamers might switch to YouTube to continue their gambling streams alongside the already existing gambling content on the platform. Many of the viewers criticized the National Lottery Authority over the ban on the popular platforms and felt dejected over a non-transparent decision-making process.