Over the last couple of months, Twitch and the U.S. military have caught a lot of flack. The U.S. military created Twitch pages that has been the subject of a lot of controversy (and hilarity). The channels stream video games as expected and host eSport teams but also serve as a portal for recruiting people and hosting fake giveaways.
The channels have also been trolled by various viewers who discuss war crimes to upset the hosts. Lawyers have stepped in to let the military know they’re violating the first amendment rights of users by doing this. Needless to say, it’s been kind of hilarious to watch. This may be coming to an end as U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has drafted new legislation to ban these kinds of channels.
Vice reported on the Twitch legislation and noted that it wants to ensure the military can’t use its funds to “maintain a presence on Twitch.com or any video game, e-sports, or live-streaming platform.”
Of course, this has to be voted on as part of a larger bill and budget for the Pentagon. It may not survive this and even be a while before we see it properly acted on. In order for it to pass, it has to be voted on by multiple groups and then the Senate. Regardless, it shows that this Twitch controversy has made its way to Washington and will likely continued to be scrutinized until further action is taken.
We’ll keep you updated if this story develops.
