The French government has opened a judicial investigation into the death of Raphaël Graven, better known online as Jean Pormanove, after the 46-year-old Kick streamer died in his sleep.
According to French media reports, Pormanove had been livestreaming on Kick in the days leading up to his death, where he was repeatedly subjected to humiliation and abuse from fellow streamers identified as Naruto and Safine.
Reports allege the streamer endured “ten days and nights of torture,” involving extreme physical violence, sleep deprivation, and the forced ingestion of toxic products. Viral clips circulating online show Pormanove being hit, strangled, and shot at with paintball guns while live on stream.
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Clara Chappaz, France’s minister for digital affairs and artificial intelligence, called the ordeal “humiliation” and “mistreatment,” confirming a judicial investigation is underway. She also criticized Kick for allowing the content to remain online.
“The responsibility of online platforms regarding the dissemination of illicit content is not optional: it is the law,” Chappaz wrote on X. “This type of failure can lead to the worst and has no place in France, Europe, or anywhere else.”
Chappaz said she referred the situation to French media regulator Arcom. Additionally, she contacted Pharos, a system used to report online content.
Kick told the BBC it was “urgently reviewing” the circumstances of Pormanove’s death, stating: “We are deeply saddened by the loss of Jean Pormanove and extend our condolences to his family, friends, and community.” The company insisted its community guidelines are designed to protect creators.
However, social media posts suggest Kick’s French accounts previously used images of Pormanove, battered and dirty, to promote merchandise, raising questions about how much the platform knew.
In January 2025, Naruto and Safine were briefly taken into custody on suspicion of producing livestreams that exploited vulnerable individuals. They were released the same day.
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