Twitch is the latest platform to eject the US President for racism. The ban is temporary, but the platform is taking a stand against racism.
Platforms are increasingly shunning hateful conduct and racism. Earlier this month, Snapchat refused to promote Trump after Trump said that demonstrators would be met with vicious dogs and ominous weapons. Twitter, for its part, is flagging some of Trumps most violent and hateful comments. Recently, they flagged a tweet when Trump glorified violence against demonstrators. Faced with mounting pressure and an outright boycott by advertisers, Facebook said that they would be moving towards a system of flagging violating content that is newsworthy.
Now, it seems that Twitch is the latest platform to crack down on racism and hateful conduct. Reports are surfacing saying that Twitch has handed down a temporary ban on Trump’s vile comments. The account was set up last year to stream Trumps rallies. From CNBC:
Twitch pointed to comments made at two rallies that led to its decision. At a campaign rally in 2016, which was recently rebroadcast on the platform, Trump said Mexico was sending over its bad actors, such as rapists or drug dealers. Twitch also pointed to Trump’s recent Tulsa rally, where he told a fictional story of a ‘tough hombre’ invading someone’s home.
“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, and the offending content has been removed,” a Twitch spokesperson told CNBC.
The Verge first reported the news of the president’s ban.
It’s unclear how long Trump’s account will be suspended. The Trump campaign had joined the platform last year in order to stream its rallies and events. The company said when Trump’s channel was started that it did not exempt political or newsworthy content when removing content.
One question in all of this is, “does it have to be this way?” Should platforms have to be put in a position where they have to choose between having the president on their platform or standing up to some of the most hateful and racist rhetoric imaginable? At this stage, just allowing the US president on the platform automatically carries the risk of the platforms being seen as sympathetic to hatred. Unfortunately, at least until November, this is the reality the US has right now. Until then, the out of control mayhem will continue with everyone wondering what the next insane thing the president is going to do next.
Drew Wilson on Twitter: @icecube85 and Facebook.
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