An investigation has been opened in France following the death "during a live stream" on a video platform of a 46-year-old man, the protagonist of controversial videos on which the French digital minister has referred the matter to the regulatory authority, the Nice prosecutor's office in southeastern France announced on Tuesday.

Raphaël Graven, 46, known online as "Jean Pormanove" or "JP," died Monday in Contes, a small village north of Nice, prosecutors said, confirming a report by the French newspaper Nice-Matin. He was known for participating in videos showing himself being subjected to violence and humiliation, notably inflicted by two partners under the pseudonyms "Narutovie" and "Safine."

The prosecutor's office said it had opened an investigation to "investigate the causes of death" and ordered an autopsy.

According to internet users, a video broadcast live on Monday on the Kick platform and widely shared since, showed "JP" just before his death or his discovery, lying unconscious under a duvet in a bed, with two other men, one of whom threw a small plastic water bottle in his direction.

The investigations were entrusted to the Nice judicial police, which had already been investigating since December 2024, notably for "intentional violence in a group against vulnerable people (...) and the distribution of recorded images relating to the commission of offenses of intentional attacks on the integrity of the person", following an article in the online media Mediapart revealing the existence of these videos, followed by thousands of people, notably on Kick.

Clara Chappaz, French Minister Delegate for Digital Affairs, denounced on X "an absolute horror" and indicated that she had "contacted the Audiovisual and Digital Communication Regulatory Authority (Arcom) and made a report on Pharos," the service for combating online violence.

"I also contacted the platform's managers to get an explanation," she added.

Asked by AFP about this matter, Kick replied that it "could not provide any information due to our privacy policy." In its terms of use, the site emphasizes that "although violence can be contextual and have variable consequences, we prohibit any content depicting or inciting heinous violence."

Kick is an Australian platform, competing with the world leader in live streaming Twitch and with more relaxed moderation rules.