A judicial investigation has been launched in France into the death of internet streamer Raphael Graven, better known by his online alias Jean Pormanove, after viewers witnessed alarming scenes during his final live broadcast.
The 46-year-old was discovered dead in Contes, near Nice, on Sunday evening. He had been streaming from rented accommodation, reportedly broadcasting continuously for 10 days on Kick, a platform rival to Twitch.
Concern grew among his followers after he appeared to be lying motionless on a mattress, failing to respond to comments in the live chat. French media reported that during the broadcast, he had been subjected to acts of humiliation and abuse, including having a water bottle thrown at him while he lay on the floor.
France’s digital technology minister, Clara Chappaz, said Graven had been “humiliated and abused for months”, stressing that platforms must be held legally accountable for hosting such content. “This type of failure can lead to the worst and has no place in France, Europe, or anywhere else,” she said.
Sarah El Hairy, the country’s high commissioner for children, described the streamer’s death as “horrifying”. She called for stricter moderation to protect young audiences from violent or abusive online material.
Kick, which has looser moderation policies than Twitch but offers creators a higher share of revenue, issued a statement expressing condolences to Graven’s family and confirming that it was urgently reviewing the circumstances. “Kick’s community guidelines are designed to protect creators, and we remain committed to upholding these standards,” a spokesperson said.
Graven, who had more than one million followers across social media, was particularly popular on Kick, where his extreme challenge content drew large audiences.