France probes death of man abused on kick livestreamFrench authorities have launched an investigation into the death of a man whose violent mistreatment was regularly streamed live on the video platform Kick.
The 46-year-old, identified as Raphael Graven and known online as Jean Pormanove, died on Monday in the village of Contes, north of Nice. Prosecutors have ordered an autopsy and opened a judicial inquiry.
France’s junior minister for AI and digital technology, Clara Chappaz, described the circumstances surrounding his death as “absolutely horrific.” Graven had frequently appeared in Kick broadcasts in which he was physically assaulted or humiliated by co-streamers while viewers watched in real time.
Kick Français said it was cooperating with investigators and had banned all co-streamers involved in the fatal broadcast. The platform added it was reviewing its French content, saying: “Our priority is to protect creators and ensure a safer environment on Kick.”
Chappaz said she had referred the matter to the media regulator Arcom and to Pharos, France’s portal for reporting illicit online content. She also confirmed that she had sought explanations from Kick, adding: “The responsibility of online platforms for dissemination of illegal content is not optional, it is the law.”
French media outlets have published extracts of past broadcasts showing Graven being beaten, insulted, strangled, covered in paint and oil, and fired at with a paintball gun. It remains unclear whether he submitted to the violence voluntarily or was coerced, or whether all of the abuse was genuine or staged.
A lawyer for one of the co-streamers, Yassin Sadouni, told BFM television that Graven had cardiovascular problems and insisted the violence was scripted. “All those scenes are just staged, they follow a script,” he said.
Kick, a live-streaming platform registered in Australia, shares advertising revenue with its content creators and has faced criticism over its lax content moderation policies.
