Amazon-owned live streaming platform Twitch has reactivated the official account of former US President Donald Trump. Trump’s Twitch account was temporarily banned in June 2020 for hate speech, then banned indefinitely after the January 6 riots. However, Twitch lifted the ban after Trump was announced as the official Republican candidate for the 2024 presidential election.
Why did Twitch reinstate Trump’s account?
Twitch reinstated Trump’s official account on July 19, esports journalist Rod “Slasher” Breslau reported. Twitch stated that behind this decision, they felt it was valuable for presidential candidates to be heard directly. In a statement, Twitch said, “We’ve reopened former President Trump’s channel. We believe it’s valuable for presidential candidates to be heard directly whenever possible. Trump is now the official Republican candidate for president of the United States.”
Trump’s Twitch account was temporarily banned in June 2020 due to two incidents of hate speech. One of these incidents included a moment at a rally in 2016 when he referred to Mexican immigrants as “rapists”. This speech was rebroadcast on Trump’s official broadcast channel. In recent speeches, Trump seems to continue with hate speech, easily debunkable lies and other nonsense. However, this no longer seems to matter to Twitch.
Twitch has stated that Trump will have to play by the rules if he wants to stay on the platform. “Twitch does not have a ‘public figure policy,’ meaning all channels are equally subject to our guidelines regardless of whether the channel is owned by a public figure,” Twitch said.
Trump survived an assassination attempt in Pennsylvania last week. He has yet to update his Twitch channel and currently still has his old homepage featuring former Vice President Mike Pence.
Twitch is redesigning its mobile app this summer with new features to improve the user experience.
The reopening of Donald Trump’s Twitch account is an important development heading into the 2024 presidential election. It remains to be seen whether Trump will follow the rules on Twitch and how he will use his account.
When Donald Trump is active on Twitch, you can probably imagine the impact his political rhetoric and broadcasts will have. What do you think? Please don’t forget to share your thoughts with us in the comments section below.
