French prosecutors have opened an investigation into the Australian video platform Kick over the death of a content creator during a live stream.
Raphaël Graven – also known as Jean Pormanove – was found dead in a residence near the city of Nice last week.
He was known for videos in which he endured apparent violence and humiliation.
The Paris prosecutor said the investigation would look into whether Kick knowingly broadcast “videos of deliberate attacks on personal integrity”.
A spokesperson from Kick said the firm was aware of the investigation and was taking legal advice.
“We remain fully committed to cooperating with the relevant authorities with any ongoing investigation,” they added.
The prosecutor’s investigation will also seek to determine whether Kick complied with the European Union’s Digital Services Act, and the obligation on platforms to notify the authorities if the life or safety of individuals is in question.
In a separate announcement, France’s minister for digital affairs, Clara Chappaz, said the government would sue the platform for “negligence” over its failure to block “dangerous content”, according to the AFP news agency.
Mr Graven was found dead on 18 August.
Local media reported the 46-year-old had been subject to bouts of violence and sleep deprivation during streams, and died in his sleep during a live broadcast.
In a post on X the next day Chappaz, described his death as an “absolute horror”, and said he had been humiliated and mistreated on the platform for months.
A postmortem carried out later that week revealed Mr Graven’s death was not the result of trauma or the actions of a third party.
Local police have seized videos and interviewed a number of people they say were present when he died.
They also disclosed Mr Graven had previously been spoken to by detectives and had “firmly denied” being a victim of violence, saying the acts he was involved in were staged to “create a buzz” and make money.
Kick is a platform similar to Twitch, and users can broadcast content and interact with other users in real time.
“We are deeply saddened by the loss of Jean Pormanove and extend our condolences to his family, friends and community,” said Kick in a previous statement.
The platform’s community guidelines were “designed to protect creators” and Kick was “committed to upholding these standards across our platform”, its spokesperson added.
