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French probe seeks warrants for tech execs over streamer’s death

AFP
AFP - news@thelocal.fr
French probe seeks warrants for tech execs over streamer’s death
Paris State Prosecutor Laure Beccuau. (Photo by Blanca CRUZ / AFP)

French prosecutors have requested arrest warrants for the managers of Australian streaming service Kick over a man’s death during a live broadcast on the platform.

The 46-year-old Frenchman, Raphael Graven — known online as “Jean Pormanove” or “JP” — died in August 2025 during a 12-day livestream that featured him enduring abuse and humiliation by other participants.

Paris prosecutor Laure Beccuau said she was asking the presiding judge to issue the warrants after Kick managers failed to respond to a summons to appear for questioning.

A source close to the case said the executives sought in the probe were currently in Australia.

Separately, two streamers who participated in Graven’s livestream were arrested Tuesday in a parallel investigation in the southern city of Nice, near where he died.

Beccuau said prosecutors wanted to question Kick executives over their “observations” surrounding the case and “the measures Kick may have taken to comply with regulations” since Graven’s death.

Prosecutors are also looking into the platform’s books, which they called “opaque” in a statement.

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“Suspicious financial transactions have been identified, leading to suspicion the channel was directly funded by Kick and its directors,” they said.

Kick has previously said it is cooperating with the French authorities.

 

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