France investigates death of streamer over concerns of 'horrifying' violence

An investigation has been launched in France into the death of a 46-year-old man who livestreamed videos of himself being subjected to abuse and violence.

Raphael Graven — who went by Jean Pormanove or JP online — was known for streaming extreme challenges and had built a following of more than 1 million people across various social media platforms, including the live-streaming service Kick.

French prosecutors said he died on Monday at a property in the village of Contes, near Nice, according to local media.

Graven had reportedly been subjected to violence and sleep deprivation for 10 days during his streaming.

Footage shared on social media showed several men choking and beating Graven. In one video, the men noticed that Graven appeared lifeless while lying on a mattress and quickly cut the broadcast. The videos could not be independently verified by Euronews.

Clara Chappaz, France's digital affairs and artificial intelligence (AI) minister, said that "the death of Jean Pormanove and the violence he suffered are an absolute horror".

"Jean Pormanove was humiliated and mistreated for months live on the Kick platform. A judicial investigation is underway," she wrote on X.

Sarah El Haïry, France's high commissioner for children, said his death was "horrifying".

"Platforms have an immense responsibility in regulating online content so that our children are not exposed to violent content. I call on parents to be extremely vigilant", she wrote on X.

Kick said it was "urgently reviewing" circumstances around the streamer's death.

"We are deeply saddened by the loss of Jeanpormanove and extend our condolences to his family, friends and community," a spokeperson said.

"Kick's community guidelines are designed to protect creators, and we remain committed to upholding these standards across our platform."

Many social media users drew parallels between Pormanove's death and the British dystopian anthology show Black Mirror.

In a recent episode, a man harms himself on a livestreaming platform in return for payment from viewers in order to fund life-saving treatment for his ill wife.