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Censorship Monitor · Video & music Last test

Where is Twitch banned?

Live streaming, mostly gaming · www.twitch.tv

China has blocked Twitch since September 2018, and Iran blocked it in July 2022. Elsewhere its limits come from betting rules, age laws and Twitch’s own 2024 exit from South Korea.

Every day we open Twitch from inside 24 countries, mostly over home broadband, and record where it’s blocked, since when and how.

Country by country

Twitch in each country we test

Blocked means the networks we test there failed to open www.twitch.tv, twice, while it opened elsewhere. “Turned away by the site” means Twitch itself refused visitors from that country.

Twitch in each country we test
CountryResultIn our tests sinceHow it fails
ChinaChina Unicom and China MobileBlocked29 Sep 2026 (our first test)the connection is refused on China Unicom and China Mobile
IranSeveral networks, mostly data centersBlocked29 Sep 2026 (our first test)the connection is cut on Sefroyek Pardaz Engineering and ArvanCloud
AustraliaTelstra and OptusOpens
BelarusBeltelecom and MTS BelarusOpens
BrazilClaro and VivoOpens
EgyptSeveral networks, mostly data centersOpens
FranceOrange and FreeOpens
GermanyDeutsche Telekom and VodafoneOpens
IndiaJio and AirtelOpens
IndonesiaTelkom Indonesia and XL AxiataOpens
ItalyTIM and FastwebOpens
MalaysiaTM Unifi and MaxisOpens
NetherlandsKPN and ZiggoOpens
PakistanPTCL and NayatelOpens
RussiaRostelecom and MTSOpens
Saudi ArabiaSeveral networks, mostly data centersOpens
South KoreaKT and SK BroadbandOpens
SpainMovistar and OrangeOpens
ThailandAIS Fibre and TOTOpens
TurkeyTürk Telekom and Turkcell SuperonlineOpens
UAEEtisalatOpens
UKBT and Virgin MediaOpens
USComcast Xfinity and AT&TOpens
VietnamViettel and FPT TelecomOpens

“In our tests since” is when our own tests first showed the result, not when a ban began: where it reads “our first test”, the block may be older. Older results are excluded from current totals.

Background

Where Twitch is restricted, and why

China blocked Twitch in September 2018: the site became largely inaccessible and the app was removed from Apple’s China App Store, weeks after Twitch had climbed to No. 3 among free apps there as viewers downloaded it to watch Asian Games esports that state broadcaster CCTV didn’t air. Twitch confirmed the block but gave no details, and tests by GreatFire from inside mainland China still found twitch.tv blocked in October 2026.

Iranian users reported in early July 2022 that Twitch had been blocked for several days; no official gave a reason, and an earlier block had been lifted after users protested. In Turkey, the National Lottery Administration had twitch.tv blocked on 22 February 2024, two days after it blocked the rival site Kick, without giving an official reason; Turkish media linked both decisions to gambling and betting streams. It opens in Turkey in our daily test.

Twitch’s exit from South Korea was its own decision. It shut down its business there on 27 February 2024, saying network fees in Korea were 10 times higher than in most other countries and that it had been operating at a significant loss, even after lowering video quality and suspending video on demand. That was a commercial choice by Twitch, not a block by the Korean government.

Age limits are the newest restriction. In November 2025 Australia’s eSafety Commissioner added Twitch to the platforms that must keep under-16s off once the country’s minimum age law took effect on 10 December 2025. Twitch said it would stop Australians under 16 from signing up from that date and deactivate their existing accounts within the following month.

Key dates

  1. Australia adds Twitch to the platforms that must keep under-16s from holding accounts once its minimum age law starts on 10 December 2025.
  2. Twitch shuts down its business in South Korea, blaming network fees it says are 10 times higher than in most countries.
  3. Turkey’s National Lottery Administration has twitch.tv blocked, two days after a similar decision against the rival site Kick.
  4. Iranian users report that Twitch has been blocked for several days; no official gives a reason.
  5. Twitch confirms it is blocked in China, where its app has also been removed from Apple’s App Store.

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History

Changes for Twitch

No confirmed changes since monitoring began on 29 Sep 2026. When a block appears or lifts, and a re-check on several machines agrees, it shows up here.

Method

How we test

  • Test machines on the two biggest home-internet providers in most countries open the homepage every day.
  • A failure counts only when it happens twice on the same network, while the site opens from other countries.
  • A change is published only after re-checks a few hours later and again the next day, on several machines per provider, confirm it. It’s dated from the first sighting.
  • Test machines caught getting around blocks, through a VPN or a filter-dodging tool, are set aside.
  • We test websites, mostly over home broadband. Apps, calls and mobile networks can behave differently.

Questions

Twitch blocks: questions

Is Twitch Blocked in China?

China blocked Twitch in September 2018, and Twitch confirmed it at the time; its app was also removed from Apple’s China App Store. No reason was given. GreatFire, which tests sites from inside mainland China, still found twitch.tv blocked in October 2026.

Why Did Twitch Leave South Korea?

Because of cost, Twitch said. It closed its Korean business on 27 February 2024, saying network fees in Korea were 10 times higher than in most other countries and that it had been operating there at a significant loss. It was Twitch’s decision, not a government ban.

Can Under-16s Use Twitch in Australia?

Not with an account. Australia’s minimum age law has covered Twitch since 10 December 2025, and Twitch said it would block sign-ups by Australians under 16 from that date and deactivate their existing accounts within the following month.

Free to use

Cite these results

Quote or republish today’s results with a link to this page: the monitor’s data is under a Creative Commons Attribution licence (CC BY 4.0).

Sentence to quote

As of 13 Nov 2026, www.twitch.tv is blocked in 2 of the 24 countries in the vpnAlert Censorship Monitor’s daily test: China and Iran.

Credit line

Source: vpnAlert Censorship Monitor, test of 13 Nov 2026, https://vpnalert.com/tools/censorship-monitor/twitch/ (CC BY 4.0)

HTML link

<a href="https://vpnalert.com/tools/censorship-monitor/twitch/">vpnAlert Censorship Monitor: Where is Twitch banned?</a> (test of 13 Nov 2026, CC BY 4.0)

APA

vpnAlert. (2026, November 13). Where is Twitch banned? vpnAlert Censorship Monitor. https://vpnalert.com/tools/censorship-monitor/twitch/

MLA

“Where is Twitch banned?” vpnAlert Censorship Monitor, vpnAlert, 13 Nov 2026, vpnalert.com/tools/censorship-monitor/twitch/.

Chicago

“Where is Twitch banned?” vpnAlert Censorship Monitor, test of November 13, 2026, https://vpnalert.com/tools/censorship-monitor/twitch/.

Wikipedia

{{cite web |url=https://vpnalert.com/tools/censorship-monitor/twitch/ |title=Where is Twitch banned? |website=vpnAlert Censorship Monitor |publisher=vpnAlert |date=2026-11-13 |access-date=2026-11-13}}