Kurt Schlosser
2024-07-19 15:23:40
www.geekwire.com
Amazon-owned Twitch has reinstated the account of Donald Trump, three years after the former president was suspended indefinitely by the platform following the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
“We believe there is value in hearing from presidential nominees directly, when possible,” Twitch said in a statement to GeekWire on Friday, a day after Trump officially accepted the Republican nomination for president.
Twitch said that it will continue to enforce its community guidelines “and take necessary enforcement action when we identify violations of our rules.” The live-streaming platform says that it doesn’t have a “public figure policy,” meaning all channels are equally subject to its guidelines.
After a mob stormed the Capitol in 2021, Twitch referred at the time to Trump’s “incendiary rhetoric” and said disabling his account was a “necessary step to protect our community and prevent Twitch from being used to incite further violence.”
The former president launched a Twitch channel in 2019 to stream rallies and other events. Less than a year later, in June 2020, it was temporarily suspended over what Twitch called “hateful conduct” in video streams.
Amazon acquired Twitch for almost $1 billion in 2014.
Meta also took action Friday to undo previous social media suspensions for Trump, removing penalties and restrictions on his Facebook and Instagram accounts.