President of the United States of America Donald Trump has been suspended from streaming on Twitch. The platform suspended POTUS' official account for hateful conduct as reported by Rod "Slasher" Breslau in a series of tweets.
Twitch has provided the following statement to Slasher: "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." The Trump campaign has utilized the account as its streaming base and was a Twitch partner before the suspension. Whether the account will remain partnered with Twitch has yet to be seen.
Twitch is not the first social platform to re-evaluate its position on what is considered hate speech. Earlier this morning, the New York Times reported that social media forum-based platform Reddit shut down "The_Donald", a popular subreddit for supporters of Trump and discussion surrounding the POTUS, for breaking the rules on harassment and targeting.
Trump's Twitch channel was originally thought to be permanently banned, but Slasher confirmed that it was simply a temporary suspension. The Trump campaign has not made any official statement regarding the suspension on social media or otherwise.
Twitch has overhauled its policies on conduct in the past, but with Microsoft's shutdown of rival streaming platform Mixer, more eyes are on Twitch than ever.
Twitch has been the set standard for live-streaming in gaming for quite some time, but its recent expansion to other verticals widened drastically due to the global effects caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Twitch has become a place for conversation, live music, and politics. Look for Twitch to continue to monitor potential violations of its policy. We will continue to update this story should as it develops.
UPDATE 7/13: Donald Trump's Twitch account has returned to the platform after the two-week hateful content suspension.
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