Twitch has unbanned President Donald Trump, two weeks after suspending his account for “hateful conduct.”
Trump’s account, which was used to broadcast new and past campaign rallies, was banned for racist comments made by the president on two occasions. Twitch pointed to remarks at his recent rally in Tulsa, where he referred to criminals as “hombre[s],” and remarks from a rebroadcast of the 2015 event announcing his candidacy, when he called Mexican immigrants criminals and “rapists.”
The ban came days after Twitch swore it would crack down on harassment, as streamers began sharing stories of harassment and assault within the industry. By banning Trump, Twitch seemed to indicate that no one is above the rules.
The question now is how much longer Trump can last on Twitch. Should his campaign continue to broadcast rally streams, it’s sadly probable the president will make additional disturbing racist comments — bannable offenses under Twitch’s guidelines, which prohibit any language that promotes harassment based on race, gender, and other personal characteristics.
“Like anyone else, politicians on Twitch must adhere to our Terms of Service and Community Guidelines,” Twitch previously said. “We do not make exceptions for political or newsworthy content, and will take action on content reported to us that violates our rules.”
This initial ban suggests that Twitch wants to be set apart from other social networks that have given Trump leeway to make racist and violent comments that a typical user would be punished for. Twitter has slowly started to highlight false and violent statements by the president, while Facebook has been criticized by its own employees for failing to do so.
