France has launched parallel civil and criminal proceedings against Australian-owned streaming service Kick after the death of French content creator Jean Pormanove during a 12-day livestream in which he was repeatedly humiliated and beaten. The 46-year-old, whose legal name was Raphaël Graven, was found dead on 18 August near Nice after almost 300 hours of broadcast watched by thousands of viewers. Digital Affairs Minister Clara Chappaz on Tuesday said the government is suing Kick for “negligence” and summoned France’s media, data-protection and law-enforcement regulators to Bercy to tighten oversight of online platforms. In a separate move, the Paris prosecutor opened an inquiry into whether Kick knowingly provided illegal content and breached its obligation under the EU’s Digital Services Act to alert authorities when life-threatening risks arise. A preliminary investigation by prosecutors in Nice into the circumstances of the death remains ongoing. Under a June 2025 French law criminalising illicit online platforms, executives found to have facilitated violent content face up to 10 years in prison and fines of €1 million if the offence is deemed organised. Prosecutors said they will examine whether Kick, which claims about 57 million users, contravened those provisions by continuing to host the stream despite clear signs of abuse. Kick said in a statement on Wednesday that it is “fully committed to cooperating with the competent authorities” and is reviewing the matter with legal advisers. An autopsy found no signs of lethal trauma, pointing instead to medical or toxicological causes, but investigators are scrutinising the role of prolonged violence and sleep deprivation broadcast on the platform. The case marks one of the first major tests of Europe’s tougher rules on platform accountability.