Twitch bans Trump

Attachment 46319

Following an attack on the US Capitol by far-right supporters of President Trump yesterday, the president's official Twitch channel has been suspended.

"In light of yesterday's shocking attack on the Capitol, we have disabled President Trump's Twitch channel," a Twitch spokesperson said. "Given the current extraordinary circumstances and the President's incendiary rhetoric, we believe this is a necessary step to protect our community and prevent Twitch from being used to incite further violence."

The rep clarified that Twitch is attempting to minimize harm leading up to the transition to a new administration, which will take place on January 20, and "will reassess his account after he leaves office."

(Twitch has also removed the PogChamp emote from the platform due to related comments made by the face of the emote.)

This isn't the first time that Trump's Twitch account has been revoked: In 2020, his account was suspended for two weeks for violating its rules against hateful conduct and harassment. But yesterday's events, which saw a mob of Trump supporters storm the Capitol building in response to the president's repeated, baseless claims that the election was stolen and resulted in four deaths and multiple injuries, caused a significantly wider and more visible backlash. Trump's Facebook and Instagram accounts were also suspended today, and his Twitter account was temporarily locked.

Attachment 46320

The response to the US president's behavior on social media comes with 13 days remaining in his four-year term.