Twitch Removes Pogchamp Emote After Controversial Statements

Twitch decided to remove the PogChamp emote today following some comments from a popular personality. The person responsible for the viral sensation said some incendiary things about the day's events on social media. (Credit to Twitch Partner @Zombaekillz for bringing awareness to it first.) Twitch made the decision to respond to the social media outcry after fans discovered those messages. Over the last 10 months, you could barely operate on most social media without encountering the PogChamp meme. For streamers, they're sad to be missing the emote, but understand the platform's decision in the moment. Twitch has been putting forth the effort to deploy it's Terms of Service more evenly. As a result, there has been an increased push for respecting diverse communities on the app. Check out what they had to say down below:

We've made the decision to remove the PogChamp emote following statements from the face of the emote encouraging further violence after what took place in the Capitol today.

— Twitch (@Twitch) January 7, 2021

"We've made the decision to remove the PogChamp emote following statements from the face of the emote encouraging further violence after what took place in the Capitol today," they began. "We want the sentiment and use of Pog to live on – its meaning is much bigger than the person depicted or image itself– and it has a big place in Twitch culture. However, we can't in good conscience continue to enable use of the image. We will work with the community to design a new emote for the most hype moments on Twitch."

so @Twitch due to this lovely statement...i think this pogchamp emote needs to be removed. pic.twitter.com/qQXrEEtIif

— Zombaekillz (She/Her) (@ZombaeKillz) January 7, 2021

More recently, there was an outcry about the possible ban of the word Simp on the platform. Twitch came to clarify that the word itself would not be banned outright.

"We wanted to clear up any misunderstandings about language that can be used on Twitch. At the core of it, we're focused on doing what we can to protect our community from harassment," Twitch explained. "We do not have a blanket ban on the use of words like "simp" in casual banter, but will take action when words like this (amongst others) are used to harass and harm community members. Check out our hateful conduct and harassment policy to learn more"

Will you miss the PogChamp emote? What will you replace it with? Let us know down in the comments!