Following Wednesday’s attack on the US Capitol by pro-Trump insurrectionists, Twitch has disabled theaccount of President Donald Trump.In astatement to Polygon, a Twitch spokesperson said “In light of yesterday’s shocking attack on the Capitol, we have disabled President Trump’s Twitch channel. 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.“Yesterday’s siege was the result of dangerous language espoused by the President. Prior to a mob of pro-Trump extremists storming into the Capitol building and occupying the halls of both the Senate and Congress, Trump told his followers to march to the Capitol and make their voices heard. The attack resulted in the evacuation of Senators, including Vice President Pence and soon-to-be Vice President Kamala Harris, and the disruption of the counting of electoral college ballots to certify the victory of President-Elect Joseph Biden. During the attack, four people died, including one woman who was shot and killed by Capitol Police. Some insurrectionistscarried confederate flags and nooseswith them into the Capitol building.This isn’t the first time Twitch has suspended President Trump’s account. This past June, the streaming service temporarily banned the president’s account for ‘hateful conduct.’
Twitch isn’t the only online service to issue a temporary ban to the President. Earlier today, Facebook, which has been one of Trump’s main platforms for reaching his supporters,blocked the president’s accounts “indefinitely.”
Wednesday’s attack on the Capitol also led to theouster of one of Twitch’s iconic emotes, PogChamp. The emote, used during exciting or hype moments in Twitch streams, was of Ryan “Gootecks” Gutierrez’s face. After the attack on the Capitol, however, Gutierrez posted on Twitter, calling for additional violence in retaliation to the death of an insurrectionist at the hands of Capitol Police. Twitch later removed the emote and is now working with community members to replace it.
