The US Army has reportedly stopped streaming on Twitch after backlash, according to esports consultant Rod Breslau. The US Army Twitch channel, which the military uses for recruitment purposes, has received backlash for banning users from its Twitch and Discord for discussing War Crimes. Twitch recently asked the US Army to stop promoting a seemingly fake giveaway that gave information to recruiters for its lack of transparency.
On Twitter Breslau said that the US Army has temporarily stopped its social activity, streaming on Twitch, and participation in events like Twitch Rivals. There is no set time frame for the US Army’s return to Twitch but it could wait until Spring 2021. The pause is on the US Army’s end; Twitch’s official partnership with it and the US Navy will continue.
new: sources tell me due to recent media coverage of fake giveaways and potentially unconstitutional bans, the US Army esports team has paused social activity, streaming on Twitch, and official activations with Twitch including participating in upcoming Twitch Rivals events
— Rod Breslau (@Slasher) July 22, 2020
A US Army spokesperson told GameSpot “The team has paused streaming to review internal policies and procedures, as well as all platform-specific policies, to ensure those participating in the space are clear before streaming resumes.”
The US Army Twitch channel hasn’t been active in nearly two weeks amid the controversy. The US Navy’s Twitch channel has continued to stream as recently as yesterday. The US Navy has also been banning viewers for discussing or asking about war crimes in the Twitch chat.
Recently, U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) introduced a measure that would prevent the military from using video games, esports, and live streaming platforms like Twitch for recruitment purposes.
