Z-Event. It's time to put rules so as not to spoil the party

10 million euros accumulated in 2021 for Action against Hunger is not nothing for a charity marathon such as the Z Event. We are slowly approaching, casually, a Telethon in terms of money raised. For comparison, in 2019 the show reached just over 74 million euros in pledges.

However, it was after the end of this edition of the marathon orchestrated by many French-speaking streamers that the controversy really began to swell. As the biggest charity event on Twitch in the world, many netizens urged the organization of the Z Event – ​​largely embodied by streamer Adrien “ZeratoR” Nougaret – to take responsibility for the content offered, especially to a young audience. .

A skid and a pack effect

A brief reminder of the facts. On the last day of the event, as part of one of its donation goals, the streamer Inoxtag flew in Mexican actress Andrea Pedrero, whom she met during a trip. "The Mermaid", as she is nicknamed by her host, thus lent herself to the exercise of more or less gravelly questions and answers, all sprinkled with particularly insistent remarks on her physique.

The young streamer also had rude phrases repeated in French despite her not speaking the language, in front of an audience that sometimes peaked at 453,000 simultaneous viewers (a record for a French Twitch channel at the time). -the).

The sequence shocked, including on the spot. The Ultia streamer notably immediately complained to ZeratoR about the sexist nature of the approach. A gesture that had no concrete effect, except that of attracting the ire of the Inoxtag community, which went as far as harassment on social networks. It should be noted, however, that the person concerned came to apologize directly under the publication of Ultia after having listened to the reasons for his dissatisfaction.

Many of the organizers at the head of events of this magnitude would certainly have made amends in an a posteriori press release to explain the slippage and the measures taken to ensure that it does not happen again. Perhaps even by announcing sanctions, even symbolic ones, to mark the occasion. Instead, ZeratoR wrote a series of tweets in which he openly mocked his critics.

Messages since erased and replaced by others, a little more repentant.

The experience of the strict charter during the GDQ

However, if the format of the Z Event is quite innovative, it is far from being the first charity marathon on Twitch. The GDQs, for Games Done Quick, are biannual events (AGDQ in winter and SGDQ in summer), which also take place in a single physical location (in any case, before the health crisis) and which also make it possible to collect millions of dollars.

They have been held for almost twelve years and it is hard to imagine an incident like the one experienced by the Z Event remaining without consequence if it had occurred on its stage.

There is even an extremely strict regulation, available on the official website. And on the issue of harassment, whether sexual, moral or racial: no deviation is allowed.

"If a person is caught engaging in such behavior, the Games Done Quick organization will promptly take whatever action it deems appropriate to rectify the situation, including exclusion and a possible ban on returning to future Games Done events. Quick. »

And these rules apply to everyone: “EVERYONE in the assembly, including staff, press and partners, is expected to abide by this policy at all times and will be treated like everyone else. which other participant. Regarding players, the rules further add: “Any speech or behavior that may fall under our harassment policy stated in our rules is not permitted while streaming. »

These rules require in particular not to utter insults in order to keep the content “family”. The costumes that participants would like to wear must also be validated before the event by the organization. If this charter is in force for places open to the public, it is also required of speakers and volunteers to remain respectful online, in particular on social networks.

In the event of a breach, the access badges can be marked by the organization, like a sort of yellow card. If a second discrepancy is noted or if the infraction is serious, an immediate exclusion will be in order.

A regulation that can be found from the AGDQ 2012, the 3rd edition of the event. With time and incidents, they have continued to expand since, without spoiling the party: the GDQs are always extremely good-natured and lucrative moments for charity.

Towards a better framework for the Z Event?

The Z Event, which is still in its 6th edition, should perhaps begin to draw inspiration from its big American brother through the establishment of a charter, visible to all. This would send a strong signal as to his willingness to organize a safe and inclusive demonstration.

Obviously, the course of the Z Event is much more composite. Unlike GDQs which only use one Twitch channel, each streamer hosts their own stream on their own page, has their own schedule, and you could argue that they are each individually responsible for what is said and shown.

However, all feature the same Z Event logo and all, de facto, also represent the charity to which the event is dedicated. So if the Z Event doesn't do anything about or condemn streamer "slips", then that's a problem. If a streamer had organized a live activity involving a huge waste of food, wouldn't that have been problematic when the donations go to Action Against Hunger?

Because obviously, we are not going to ask the Z Event to be present everywhere, at all times and to predict hazardous behavior. But the beginning of a solution could be found in the mandatory submission of donation goals (those famous donation goals that push streamers to make pledges or challenges) to the organization prior to the event. For example, the arrival of Andrea Pedrero was part of one of these donations goals.

Unlike the GDQs, the Z Event does not welcome an audience. Still, posting an online streamer code of conduct to show what the organization's stance is on what's possible and what's not allowed during the event would be healthier for everyone. the world. In any case, it would allow the Z Event not to find itself in the communication slump that it experienced the next day via ZeratoR's unfortunate tweets.

If nothing changes and as long as the Z Event grows, this kind of abusive behavior and the just polemics that result from it will have every chance of happening again. The Z Event is an indisputable charitable success. An authentic party in which the spectators and the speakers take pleasure while acting for the good cause. Let's not spoil all this, for the simple fear of wanting to do too well.