Donald Trump’s Twitch Account Reinstated After Three-Year Ban
3 min read
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In a surprising turn of events, former US President Donald Trump’s Twitch account has been unbanned after being suspended for over three years. The reinstatement occurred on July 19, 2024, just one day after Trump accepted the official GOP nomination at the recent Republican National Convention (RNC). The news was initially reported by the StreamerBans bot on X, which monitors suspensions on the Amazon-owned streaming platform.
Donald Trump’s Twitch channel had been banned for three years and five months, with the ban going into effect on January 20, 2021. This suspension followed the controversial events of January 6, 2021, when a large crowd of protesters stormed the United States Capitol in response to the 2020 Presidential Election results. The violent protests resulted in five fatalities and widespread condemnation, with many blaming Trump for inciting the unrest. Consequently, platforms like Twitch and Twitter swiftly removed his accounts.
✅ Twitch Partner "DonaldTrump" has been unbanned after 3 years, 5 months and 4 weeks! ✅https://t.co/v8A9lLXxtl#twitch #unban #partner #twitchpartner 🚴
— StreamerBans (@StreamerBans) July 19, 2024
The reinstatement of Trump’s Twitch account marks a significant shift. Journalist Rod ‘Slasher’ Breslau shared a statement from Twitch, explaining the decision: “We reinstated former President Trump’s channel. We believe there is value in hearing from Presidential nominees directly, when possible. Trump is now the official Republican nominee for US president.”
During his previous tenure on Twitch, Trump’s channel was primarily used to broadcast speeches from his rallies. However, it faced an indefinite ban following the Capitol riots due to concerns that it posed a “risk of further incitement of violence.” This was not the first time Trump encountered issues with Twitch. In 2020, his account was suspended for “hateful conduct” and violating the platform’s community guidelines, although it was reinstated shortly after amid significant backlash.
Donald Trump has been UNBANNED from Twitch after 3 years. ‼️
— DramaAlert (@DramaAlert) July 19, 2024
Is he getting un-cancelled? 🤔 pic.twitter.com/LGnbaeCFsz
Breslau also noted that Twitch emphasized that Trump’s account would be subject to the same community guidelines and terms of service as any other user going forward. Despite the reinstatement, Trump’s Twitch account, which has over 150,000 followers according to Twitchtracker, currently shows only 222 followers, indicating it will take time for the full follower count to be reflected.
This development follows other notable social media reinstatements for Trump. In November 2022, a month after Elon Musk’s $44 billion acquisition of Twitter (now called X), the tech mogul lifted Trump’s ban from the platform. Musk’s decision came after conducting a poll in which 15 million users participated, with 51.2% voting in favor of reinstating Trump’s account. Since then, Trump has posted only once on X, sharing a photo of his mugshot with a link to his website. He continues to use his own platform, Truth Social, for most of his public communications.
Twitch will be reinstating Donald Trump's account today, Twitch tells me:
— Rod Breslau (@Slasher) July 19, 2024
"We reinstated former President Trump’s channel. We believe there is value in hearing from Presidential nominees directly, when possible. Trump is now the official Republican nominee for US president."
The unbanning of Donald Trump’s Twitch account is a part of a broader trend of controversial figures being reinstated on major platforms. For instance, influencer Andrew Tate, who was banned in 2017 for hate speech, was also unbanned from X on November 18, 2024.
As Trump gears up for the 2024 Presidential Election, the reinstatement of his Twitch account could play a crucial role in his campaign strategy, allowing him to directly engage with his followers and broadcast his messages to a broader audience.
Shivam Kumar
Hi, I'm Shivam Kumar. I'm pursuing Journalism honors from the IP University. I love the skill of writing and looking forward to learn more of it. Also I love traveling and experiencing new things every day....
