Amazon-owned Twitch has finally reinstated former President Donald Trump’s account, just after he formally accepted the GOP nomination for president in 2024.
Twitch banned Trump “indefinitely” in 2021 following the Capitol protest on Jan. 6. TechCrunch reported that Twitch has now reinstated Trump’s account because he is a presidential nominee in the upcoming 2024 election.
Twitch stated “there is value in hearing from presidential nominees directly, when possible,” TechCrunch reported. Trump’s team used his channel on Twitch in 2020 to broadcast his campaign events, the outlet explained, something they can now do again.
“We continue to enforce our Community Guidelines and take necessary enforcement action when we identify violations of our rules,” TechCrunch quoted a Twitch spokesperson. “Twitch doesn’t have a ‘public figure policy,’ meaning all channels are equally subject to our guidelines, regardless of whether the channel belongs to a public figure.”
Other tech companies have made similar decisions over the course of the 2024 presidential election cycle.
Meta recently declared that Trump’s Facebook and Instagram accounts are cleared of any remaining penalties from past violations, meaning he can post on his account without being within a hair’s breadth of losing it. Meta, like Twitch, cited Trump’s presidential nominee status. The company had already reversed its ban on Trump in January 2023. Google-owned YouTube also lifted its ban, but Trump continues to prioritize his Truth Social platform.
Twitch’s decision to reinstate Trump came after the former president survived an assassination attempt and went on to accept the presidential nomination at the Republican National Convention.
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