Following a riot at the US Capitol building, Twitch has followed the lead of other notable social media companies and disabled Trump’s account. A statement from Twitch cites the president’s “incendiary rhetoric” as the cause.
“In light of yesterday’s shocking attack on the Capitol, we have disabled President Trump’s Twitch channel,” the statement reads. “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.”
Twitch is the latest in a string of tech companies that have taken action against President Trump’s accounts, following riots that he helped to instigate. Twitter temporarily disabled his account for 12 hours, while Facebook banned him from both the social media platform and Snapchat for at least the next two weeks, “until the peaceful transition of power is complete.” Shopify also removed branded Trump stores.
The chaos that erupted at the Capitol came after weeks of President Trump promoting false claims of voter fraud, and very shortly after he gave a speech to an assembled crowd of protesters encouraging them to march on the Capitol as Congress was counting electoral votes. Several lawmakers have suggested the president’s rhetoric, often shared on social media platforms, contributed to the violence.
It’s unclear how long the Twitch ban will last. Last summer, Twitch banned Trump for “hateful conduct,” and lifted that suspension after two weeks.
