Summary
- Swatting is a dangerous practice in which viewers falsely report crimes at a streamer's home, leading to a heavy police response.
- Swatting is a recurring issue in the livestreaming community, putting streamers and others in danger.
- Swatting incidents have led to real harm, including the death of an innocent bystander, and can cause lasting trauma for the victims.
A professional Valorant player and Twitch streamer, known as s0m, was swatted at his family home during the early hours of January 4. Swatting is a dangerous, irresponsible practice in which stream viewers will anonymously contact the police and convince them that a terrible crime is unfolding at a streamer's residence, prompting a heavy police response that often involves a SWAT team.
Unfortunately, swatting has a deep history within the livestreaming community. It's become a semi-regular occurrence for popular live streamers to become victims of such attacks, and the police raids often put others in danger as well. One Twitch streamer's grandparents were swatted because the perpetrator incorrectly thought that the streamer lived at their residence. The streamer explained that her grandparents speak little English, which could have led to dangerous misunderstandings. It's not clear what the perpetrators get out of these attacks other than a sick sense of entertainment. And as 2024 begins, it appears that acts of swatting are still being committed.
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S0m, who is currently a professional Valorant player and a former Counter-Strike pro, was swatted around 6:30 AM on January 4 while streaming on Twitch. He lives with his family, who were sleeping at the time. A clip captured from s0m's stream showed a police officer armed with a shotgun clearing his bedroom. S0m was understandably upset with the attack, tweeting, "To whoever did this you are genuinely a horrible person, swatting is not a joke and puts peoples lives at risk." Despite that, it seems that s0m has not allowed the incident to scare him away from streaming, and will continue to livestream in the future.
S0m has good reason to be worried about his and his family's well-being during such an event. One swatting incident led to the death of an innocent bystander, whose house was surrounded by police after a false address was given by an angry gamer online. The three gamers involved in the lethal incident have since been charged and sentenced. Although this swatting event spiraled out of control, swatting can cause serious issues even when the incidents remain calm.
Streamer QTCinderella opened up about her struggles with PTSD following her experiences with swatting. Although the police usually handle swatting incidents well once they realize what's happening, it's understandable that armed police officers barging into one's home unannounced could lead to new fears when streaming.
QTCinderella's boyfriend Ludwig revealed the damage to his house that resulted from one of the multiple swatting instances perpetrated against the couple. This was in an effort to show the community how swatting can be damaging in multiple ways, but unfortunately, there still seems to be those who will do anything to get a rise out of people.