Twitch’s Trump Ban Isn’t Surprising – But Not for the Reason You Think
- Streaming platform Twitch has just banned Donald Trump, at least temporarily.
- They claim he displayed “hateful conduct.”
- The move appears shocking – until you realize that Trump’s enemy, Jeff Bezos, owns Twitch.
Twitch has done what other social media apps have been scared to do: follow their own guidelines and ban Donald Trump. It helps that Trump’s archnemesis, Jeff Bezos, owns the platform.
Twitch Gives Trump the Boot
Twitch decided that Trump’s “hateful conduct” was no longer welcome. The streaming platform issued the following statement defending the suspension:
Hateful conduct is not allowed on Twitch. In line with our policies, President Trump’s channel has been issued a temporary suspension from Twitch for comments made on stream, and the offending content has been removed.
According to CNBC, the primary offenses were Trump’s rallies in 2016 and his recent Tulsa rally. In 2016, Trump said Mexico was sending over “rapists” and “drug dealers.” In Tulsa, he told a story of a “tough hombre” invading a home.
The news is especially startling since the platform has shied away from banning some of its biggest streamers in the past. Now, they’re banning the president of the United States?
It would be shocking if you didn’t know who owned Twitch.
Jeff Bezos Gets a Bit of Revenge
Jeff Bezos and Donald Trump have a hostile relationship.
Trump has attacked Bezos for years. He claims that Amazon is exploiting the postal service.
In April, he dangled a $10 billion loan above the USPS’ head to leverage action.
The Postal Service is a joke because they’re handing out packages for Amazon and other internet companies and every time they bring a package, they lose money on it.
He tweeted as much in 2017.
Trump has had a vendetta against Jeff Bezos ever since he acquired The Washington Post in 2013.
He even trolled the Amazon CEO after he was caught cheating on his former wife.
As you can imagine, Jeff Bezos was not happy.
In February, he accused the president of having an agenda against him after Amazon lost a massive cloud-computing contract with the Pentagon.
The Washington Post has been an aggressive critic of the president for years.
Today’s ban was a long time coming – and anything but surprising. While Trump had gotten the last laugh until now, maybe Bezos’ loud message on Twitch will give other social media platforms the courage to enforce their own rules.
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of CCN.com.
