Twitch is restoring former President Donald Trump’s account ahead of the 2024 presidential election after an “indefinite” ban in 2021. The Amazon-owned company told TechCrunch on Friday that it reinstated Trump’s channel because it believes “there is value in hearing from the presidential candidate directly, if at all possible.”
Before the ban was imposed, Trump's team used his channel to broadcast some of his campaign material. Now that the ban has been lifted, his channel can resume broadcasting.
Twitch, along with many other tech companies, banned Trump’s account following the January 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol building. Others to do so include Twitter (now X), Facebook, and YouTube.
The change comes days after Meta announced that Trump’s Facebook and Instagram accounts would no longer receive the higher suspension penalties. Meta’s reasons for its decision were somewhat similar to Twitch’s: the company said it believed all presidential candidates should have equal footing on the platform before the election.
It's notable that YouTube restored Trump's account last year, and X restored it in 2022 under new leadership from Elon Musk.
Twitch lifted the ban, but said Trump's account must adhere to its community guidelines, according to TechCrunch.
“We continue to enforce our Community Guidelines and take action when we find violations,” a company spokesperson said in a statement. “There is no ‘public policy’ on Twitch, so all channels, regardless of whether they are public, are required to adhere to our guidelines equally.”
Before the indefinite ban in 2021, President Trump's Twitch account was temporarily suspended in 2020 for broadcasting hateful content.
