Twitch took another step in response to yesterday’s attack on the US Capitol. The US President Donald Trump’s Twitch account is now suspended.
The change comes after Facebook blocked the president’s Facebook and Instagram accounts. In an email to Kotaku, a Twitch representative said the goal was to prevent the president from “inciting further violence”.
“In light of yesterday’s shocking attack on Capitol Hill, we disabled President Trump’s Twitch channel,” they said. “Given the current extraordinary circumstances and the president’s incendiary rhetoric, we believe this is a necessary step to protect our community and prevent Twitch from being used to incite further violence.”
The spokesman said the suspension has no expiration date at this time. “We are focused on minimizing the damage that leads to the government’s transition and will reevaluate his account after he leaves office.”
It is not clear what constitutes a suspension in this case. Donald Trump’s account can still be seen on Twitch and you can see the oldest videos uploaded to the account. It is possible that Twitch has suspended the ability to broadcast or upload new videos for now.
This is the second time that the US President’s Twitch account has been suspended. Twitch briefly suspended his account in June for transmitting “hateful content”.
Twitch’s (and Facebook’s) decision to group the president’s social media accounts seems a little like closing the barn door after the horse ran away, running to Washington DC and encouraging a crowd of pro-Trump supporters to march on the Capitol . Little of what the president posted on social media in the past week varied from what he posted since he lost the election in November.
From Twitch, it’s not like Donald Trump is jumping on the channel and streaming Fifteen days while spreading incendiary content. The account seemed to serve primarily as a place to relay Trump’s rallies to a gaming audience.
In 2020, Twitch normally focused on video games has now become a popular center for political mobilization thanks in part to politicians like President-elect Joe Biden, Donald Trump, Senator Bernie Sanders and Congressman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez using the platform to engage with US voters.