Today saw the inauguration of a new president in the United States. President Joe Biden officially took office, while former President Donald Trump flew home to Florida. Yet, the past weeks and months have left a profound impact on politics and American culture that continues to reverberate. Trump's official Twitch account, which was disabled following the January 6 attack on the US Capitol building, has now had its long-term fate decided.
In an email sent to The Verge, Twitch officially confirmed that Trump's streaming channel will remain shut down indefinitely. Further, Trump will not be able to appeal the results due to the nature of the suspension. On top of that, Trump will not be able to create alternative channels on Twitch until the matter of the original channel's suspension has been dealt with.
If that sounds severe, that's because Twitch appears to be taking the situation very seriously now. The original suspension, as well as the subsequent indefinite suspension, is due to what Twitch describes as Trump's "calls to action." As a result, Twitch has moved to deny the channel the "potential for harm to our community and the general public." Twitch references its rules in place that prohibit incitement of violence, as well as harassment and hateful conduct. These rules also consider events that took place not on the streaming service, like President Trump's speeches.
Twitch does acknowledge that its current rules don't necessarily describe the current situation with Trump, however. Twitch said that it plans to address a gap in its rules with regards to rhetoric that encourages violence. No immediate changes are being made, but Twitch said that streamers and viewers can expect those policy changes in the future.
Twitch isn't alone in taking serious action against an account run by President Trump. Twitter also carried out an indefinite suspension of Trump's account following the violent unrest on January 6, as did others. Some outlets, like YouTube, have instead only temporarily banned Trump from their platforms. It's unclear why these platforms may have felt it necessary to punish Trump at first, and yet don't see the necessity to do so going forward.
As for what Trump thinks of the situation, the 45th President has made no official comment specifically about Twitch. The channel was largely used to broadcast campaign events as President Trump sought reelection in 2020. This isn't the first time that Trump has been punished by Twitch, however, as the account was also temporarily banned for "hateful conduct" last June.
Source: The Verge