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Why Donald Trump’s Twitch account was temporarily suspended

By Matthew Liebl

WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 26: U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting of the American Workforce Policy Advisory Board in the East Room of the White House on June 26, 2020 in Washington, DC. Earlier in the day President Trump canceled his scheduled weekend trip to his private golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey which the state now has a mandatory 14-day quarantine for travelers coming from states with coronavirus spikes. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 26: U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting of the American Workforce Policy Advisory Board in the East Room of the White House on June 26, 2020 in Washington, DC. Earlier in the day President Trump canceled his scheduled weekend trip to his private golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey which the state now has a mandatory 14-day quarantine for travelers coming from states with coronavirus spikes. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images) /
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President Donald Trump became the second high-profile ban on Twitch.

Donald Trump isn’t typically a name you’d associate with Twitch but the United States President does have an account on the streaming platform. And today, he found out that despite his title, he doesn’t have all the power.

Having previously warned the President’s media team when they first created the account last October that the platform makes no exceptions for politicians, Twitch suspended President Trump’s account today. Unlike the ongoing mystery with Dr Disrespect’s permanent ban though, Twitch has made it clear that Donald Trump’s suspension is due to violating the company’s hateful conduct and harassment policies.

More specifically, Twitch took issue with the President’s derogatory comments made about Mexicans at a 2016 kickoff rally when he claimed Mexico was sending rapists to the United States. Twitch also flagged the President’s recent Tulsa rally.

Twitch defended its actions in a statement to Engadget:

"“Hateful conduct is not allowed on Twitch. In line with our policies, President Trump’s channel has been issued a temporary suspension from Twitch for comments made on stream.”"

Twitch has recently cracked down on harassment on the platform, issuing numerous bans to several high-profile streamers. Donald Trump is no different. Twitch previously warned:

"“Like anyone else, politicians on Twitch must adhere to our Terms of Service and Community Guidelines. We do not make exceptions for political or newsworthy content, and will take action on content reported to us that violates our rules.”"

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Trump hasn’t yet responded to his account being suspended but something tells me he didn’t even know he had an account on Twitch. I very much doubt he even knows what Twitch is.

Still, Twitch is taking a bold stance and could find itself facing some blow back, or at least further calls to roll back Section 230 of the Communications Decenty Act. As Engadget explains:

"“The clause protects online platforms in a variety of circumstances from libel suits based on the actions of their users. In May, the President signed an executive order pushing the FTC to take action against companies that limit their users’ speech after Twitter hid one of his tweets for glorifying violence.”"

It’s unclear how long the ban will last but it is only temporary. It’s worth mentioning that today Reddit also banned the pro-Trump subreddit, r/The_Donald, along with a number of other subreddits for harassment. Unlike Trump’s Twitch account, The_Donald is not directly affiliated with the president.

Next. Best video game streamers to watch while social-distancing. dark

It’s too bad, too. I was really looking forward to watching the president stream Call of Duty: Modern Warfare.

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