Kick co-founder reveals 500 viewbotters banned ahead of new algorithm launch

Khizar Mundia Published 22/05/2026

Kick’s co-founder Bijan Tehrani has made an X post announcing that his platform has taken massive action against viewbotters, banning “500 of the worst abusers”.

Viewbotting is a significant issue in the streaming world right now, with viewers even speculating about which streamers may be abusing bots. Livestreaming platforms try to take action against creators artificially inflating their views, but it’s hard to know if they are the culprits or victims. Twitch recently announced a new method to fight viewbots, and Kick has also previously attempted to taken action against major abusers.

Bijan Tehrani says the 500 viewbot abusers banned accounted for roughly 67 million recurring monthly Kick watch hours

Several unconfirmed reports were circulating about Kick taking severe action against viewbotting and banning multiple streamers. Kick co-founder Bijan Tehrani confirmed the same in an X post, revealing that a total of 500 viewbot abusers had been banned and that they were responsible for 13% of the platform’s watch hours. He stated that this move will save Kick “tens of millions per year,” which the platform will invest in clipping, KPP, and other initiatives.

Image credit: Bijan Tehrani

Tehrani made another X post elaborating on the total watch hours, stating that the figures are outdated, and the new algorithm update will be fully rolled out over the next week. He elaborated that the new algorithm will prioritize authentic viewership, which should, in turn, help with the viewbotting problem.

Kick isn’t the only platform to face viewbotters, and it’s rampant on all livestreaming platforms. Twitch, for instance, is also facing a massive viewbotting issue, and the platform has started to cap the live concurrent viewership of viewbotters. This is a deterrent for those who abuse viewbots, as they won’t get the additional payout for fake viewers.

Kick’s move has been met with divided reactions from the community, with some commending the platform for taking firm action and others criticizing the action, and alleging that Kick didn’t ban any of the big names that are potentially viewbotting. Regardless of whether these allegations are true or not, it’s a good sign that platforms such as Kick and Twitch are trying to think of new methods to get streamers to stop viewbotting.

The main issue that arises while combating viewbotting is confirming whether the streamer is the one inflating views or if a third party is targeting them in a co-ordinated attack. This is the largest reason why platforms have been unable to come up with a permanent solution for the issue, as any punishment clearly must impact the wrongdoer at source.

Most agree that viewbotting is an inevitable part of livestreaming, and platforms just need to change their methods to limit the abuse as much as possible.

Feature image credit: Kick

Khizar Mundia

About Khizar Mundia

Khizar Mundia has been playing video games for as long as he can recall. Things have come a long way since the many days he spent playing the original NES, though. He now covers a variety of competitive games and esports, as well as the world of streaming, ranging from Twitch to Kick. If it’s of interest to gamers, it’s of interest to Khizar.

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