France seeks nationwide Kick block after Jean Pormanove death sparks investigation

Kick may soon face a nationwide block in France after the death of French streamer Raphaël Graven, known online as Jean Pormanove, triggered a significant public and political response.

The 46-year-old died on August 18 while streaming on the platform following what French media described as “ten days of torture,” involving fellow creators Owen ‘Naruto’ Cenazendotti and Safine Hamadi. Allegations under investigation include physical abuse, forced ingestion of substances, and prolonged sleep deprivation.

Kick banned both Naruto and Safine shortly after the incident. The company also severed ties with a French marketing agency that had featured Pormanove in promotional material shortly before his death. France’s Minister for Digital Affairs and AI, Clara Chappaz, criticised the events as “humiliation” and “mistreatment,” prompting a judicial inquiry.

An autopsy concluded that Pormanove’s death was not directly caused by another individual’s intervention, while the streamers involved said the events were consensual and staged. Pormanove’s mother stated that Naruto and Safine are “great people” who “never mistreated him except once in the gym.”

The Nice prosecutor’s office is investigating allegations of aggravated intentional violence, failure to assist a person in danger, and endangerment of life. Multiple French outlets report that the Paris court will rule on December 19 on the government’s request to block access to Kick nationwide.

At a recent hearing, prosecutors requested the shutdown of around fifteen channels linked to Pormanove’s former main account due to unauthorised rebroadcasting of his content. However, the prosecutor declined to support a broader six-month ban on Kick, describing the measure as excessive.

Kick argued that it has removed all related content and challenged the constitutional validity of Article 6-3 of the Law for Confidence in the Digital Economy, which permits preventative platform restrictions. The platform said applying the provision in this case would restrict freedom of expression and penalise millions of users for the actions of a few accounts.

France has also opened a separate investigation into ‘OGK Decoy,’ a Twitch channel operated by Gwen Cenazandotti, amid allegations of continued violent and humiliating content.