Twitch has taken another step in response to yesterday’s attack on the Capitol. It has now suspended US President Donald Trump’s Twitch account.
The move comes after Facebook locked the president’s accounts on Facebook and Instagram. In an email to Kotaku, a Twitch representative said the move was to prevent the president from “inciting further violence.”
“In light of yesterday’s shocking attack on the Capitol, we disabled President Trump’s Twitch channel,” they said. “Given the current extraordinary circumstances and the president’s inflammatory 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 end date at this time. “We are focused on minimizing damage leading up to the government transition and will reassess his account after he leaves office.”
It is somewhat unclear what a suspension means in this case. Donald Trump’s account is still visible on Twitch and one can view older videos uploaded to the account. It’s possible that Twitch has temporarily suspended the ability to broadcast or upload new videos.
This is the second time that the US President’s Twitch account has been suspended. Twitch briefly suspended its account in June for broadcasting “hateful content.”
Twitch’s (and Facebook’s) decision to connect the president’s social media accounts feels somewhat like closing the stable door after the horse escaped, ran to Washington DC and encouraged a crowd of pro-Trump supporters to on Capitol Hill. Little of what the president has posted on social media over the past week deviates from what he has posted since losing the November election.
As for Twitch, it’s not like Donald Trump was hopping and streaming on the channel Fortnite while spreading flammable content. The account primarily seemed to serve as a place to re-broadcast Trump’s rallies to playing audiences.
By 2020, normally video game-focused Twitch found itself a popular center for political mobilization, thanks in part to politicians such as President-elect Joe Biden, Donald Trump, Senator Bernie Sanders, and House Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez who used the platform. to connect with American voters.