Twitch has ‘indefinitely’ banned Donald Trump
Twitch has “indefinitely” banned former President Donald Trump from its platform. The action comes two weeks after the site disabled Trump’s account, preventing him from streaming but leaving the account page live, in light of the mob attack on the Capitol. At the time, a company spokesperson told a Verge reporter that it would reassess his account after he left office — which happened today.
“We have indefinitely suspended President Trump’s Twitch channel due to the ongoing risk of further incitement of violence,” a Twitch spokesperson wrote in an email to The Verge.
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.
This kind of suspension means that Trump will have no opportunity to appeal the ban on his account, and it also means that he cannot create another account there unless his suspension is lifted.
Twitch’s action follows others taken by social media platforms like Twitter — which permanently banned Trump for inciting violence after the Capitol attack — though it is the first platform to take action against Trump since his term ended today. Twitch initially issued a temporary ban on Trump’s account in June 2020 for broadcasting “hateful conduct.”
Twitch has “indefinitely” banned former President Donald Trump from its platform. The action comes two weeks after the site disabled Trump’s account, preventing him from streaming but leaving the account page live, in light of the mob attack on the Capitol. At the time, a company spokesperson told a Verge…
