Banned Twitch streamer files lawsuit against platform for loss of earnings and "reputational harm"

Infamous streamer James "PhantomL0rd" Varga has filed a lawsuit for damages against Twitch following his indefinite ban from the platform in July 2016.

With 16,000 paid subscribers and over one million followers, Varga was one of Twitch's most popular content creators at the time.

However, he became embroiled in a scandal whereby numerous streamers were accused of promoting a Counter-Strike skin gambling site without disclosing their ties to the business.

Varga, who allegedly owned the site, still refutes any involvement in the CSGOShuffle debacle and is now claiming the reasoning behind his ban is flawed and unsubstantiated. He claims that the ban resulted in "significant monetary damages" and "reputational harm".

In the complaint submitted to the courts, Varga's lawyers argue Twitch justified its decision to ban him by pointing to "false accusations leveled at Varga by a third party" through "illegally obtained electronic records".

According to the complaint levelled against Twitch, the video platform failed to offer an explanation until January 2017, when it was suggested that Varga was banned for having fraudulent subscribers on his channel.

It was then alleged that the suspension was due to Varga's content, including his non-gaming content, violating Twitch's guidelines.

"Twitch never provided any formal explanation for his suspension," reads the complaint. "Instead, Twitch has made only vague and ever-changing allegations of breaches of the terms of service."

The evidence against Varga's involvement in CSGOShuffle would appear substantial, though difficult to verify. It was also obtained illegally by a third-party who passed the information onto esports journalist Richard Lewis, who broke the story.