Twitch has announced that it has indefinitely suspended former US President Donald Trump‘s account, sharing its concerns that he might use the platform as a way of inciting violence. Today marked the end of Mr. Trump’s term in office, and it seems that Twitch wasted no time announcing that the former President was no longer welcome to use the service. This is the second suspension Mr. Trump has received from the platform, and Twitch has announced that it will be making some changes to the site’s policies as a result of this action. A full statement from the platform can be found below.
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“The President’s statements continue to be interpreted as calls to action, and we are taking this action to remove the potential for harm to our community and the general public. Twitch has clear rules that prohibit hateful conduct, harassment, or incitement of violence on our service, and we consider off-service events when making enforcement decisions. However, the events of the past weeks have highlighted a gap with respect to rhetoric that encourages violence, regardless of whether or not it was directly streamed on Twitch. We will be updating our policies as a result of our consideration of this situation.”
Following the ban, the former President will not be able to appeal his suspension from the platform, nor will he be able to start a different account. The then-current President was permanently banned from a number of other social media platforms over the last few weeks, following allegations that he incited an attempted coup at the US Capitol Building. That event resulted in five deaths, leading to Mr. Trump’s second impeachment.
Mr. Trump’s previous ban from the platform was for hateful conduct, after airing a pair of campaign clips: one from a 2016 campaign rally, and the other from a then-recent rally in Tulsa. His account was reinstated two weeks after the suspension, but this time around, the platform has permanently parted ways with the former President.
While Twitch is predominantly known as a platform for video game streaming, it has become an outlet that a lot of politicians are increasingly looking to, in order to reach more viewers. Last year, congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez used the platform to stream Among Us while raising $200,000 for various charities. Last month, Stacey Abrams similarly used Twitch for the purpose of bringing attention to the Georgia run-offs while streaming Animal Crossing: New Horizons.
