Twitch temporarily bans Trump campaign’s account

By Paul Squire June 29, 2020

In a surprise move, Twitch has temporarily suspended President Donald Trump’s campaign account, according to reports.

“Hateful conduct is not allowed on Twitch,” the company said in a statement to Forbes. “In line with our policies, President Trump’s channel has been issued a temporary suspension from Twitch for comments made on stream, and the offending content has been removed.”

The company reportedly cited comments Trump made during a 2016 rally that was rebroadcast recently, as well as remarks made at his recent Tulsa rally, as the offending content. During the 2016 rally, Trump said: “When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best.” The rallies were streamed on the Team Trump account.

It is unclear how long the ban will remain in place.

A Twitch spokesperson did not respond to a request from Digital Trends for comment. We will update this story when we hear back.

The decision comes a week after Twitch announced a crackdown on offending accounts on its platform, following accusations of harassment by prominent streamers.

The move is also the latest by social media giants to rein in Trump’s comments. Twitter has flagged Trump’s tweets on multiple occasions for violations regarding “glorifying violence” and misinformation, while Reddit recently deleted the subreddit devoted to the president after years of abusive behavior that violatiedits user policies.

Facebook declined to moderate Trump’s posts, despite user and employee outcry and a widespread advertiser boycott. Facebook has since backtracked and now says it will flag content that violate its policies but is newsworthy enough to remain on the site.

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