Beginning with the Obama administration back in 2009, years of Democrat rule significantly impacted life in America. At first considered consistent development of society, the ideas of social justice, including racial and gender equity, became the main focus of the contemporary Democrat party. Its contribution was so great that even four years of Donald Trump’s first term couldn’t reverse the state of affairs and, at some point, even fell victim to what later evolved into the ill-fated DEI and woke ideologies during the Biden-Harris period.
New Means of Entertainment
Almost 15 years ago, against the backdrop of rapidly evolving computer technologies and the internet, the world witnessed dramatic changes, particularly in the entertainment industry. The extensive spread of video games and their improved quality made live-streaming platforms like Twitch extremely popular. Along with charismatic hosts and the general unaffordability of mid-range and high-end computer hardware needed to experience content with “maxed-out” graphics, broadcasts began attracting thousands of viewers. In most cases, younger people, gamers, and fans comprised the audience.
It is worth noting that Twitch has never officially claimed any political affiliation nor endorsed any political party. So, one might wonder what a live-streaming platform for primarily gamers has to do with the world of big politics? The answer is: plenty, in fact. Much more than one might expect at first glance. It allows for interaction with younger Americans, and this engagement can have significant long-term consequences. Don’t forget Twitch’s parent company is Amazon, which is well known for its support of the Democrat party. It’s no surprise that prominent figures like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Kamala Harris widely used the platform for their campaigns in 2020 and 2024.
Over the years, Twitch has amassed an extremely large audience. According to Adam Connell, Twitch remains a No.1 live-streaming platform with some 60–65% market share in 2024. While there has been a slight decline from 76% in 2022 and 67% in 2020, absolute viewership numbers have continued to grow as the market itself has expanded significantly. Thousands watch live-streams daily, and millions tune in when highly anticipated video games are released.
The Rise of Anti-Semitic Sentiment
In October this year Twitch found itself caught in a series of politically motivated scandals. A famous YouTuber and streamer, Asmongold (real name Zack Hoyt), expressed his personal opinion on the Israel-Palestine conflict during one of his broadcasts. He said he was against extensive support for Arabs among Americans because of significant differences between Christians and Muslims, particularly in their approaches to religion and way of life. Asmongold’s point of view was baselessly labelled as “a racist rant” by pro-Palestine activists and caused a two-week channel ban. Sometime later Arab supporters even forced the streamer to apologize for having such an opinion and making it public, even though he wasn’t promoting hatred or xenophobia.
That very episode resembles the approach of the contemporary Democrat party to freedom of speech when it comes to free thinkers. Just like in the mainstream media, conservative opinions are considered “racist, fascist, and unacceptable.” One might reckon that this incident is actually a perfect image of the Democrats’ type of freedom of speech where only one kind of speech is truly free while any other opinion that doesn’t fit the agenda must be silenced.
The case wouldn’t have drawn so much attention if not for Twitch’s consistent support for pro-Palestine streamers and other actions aimed against Israel. First of all, during a TwitchCon event September 21, 2023, there was a controversial panel hosted by Twitch partner Frogan, a 27-year-old American woman from Detroit, Michigan, whose real name is Morgan, along with several pro-Palestinian streamers. They made the “Loves Sabra” rating system for other content creators. The point was to distribute broadcasters from the highest category — “Arab” — to the lowest — “Loves Sabra”, which refers to U.S.-based Israeli company Sabra, which produces Middle Eastern-style food products.
The term “Loves Sabra” could also be interpreted as a reference to a Jew born in Israel. Anyway, despite calling it a “meme” event, it was openly antisemitic. Following backlash from conservative political commentators, Twitch had to finally ban some of the Arab-streamers who attended the panel. Moreover, that terrible show had large energy, with mega corporations like Chevron, Samsung, Capcom, and AT&T recognized as sponsors just behind the speakers.
A Beloved Content-Creator and No.1 Fan
Another strong indicator of Twitch’s political stance is the company’s attitude towards one of the most viewed broadcasters, Hasan Piker, also known as Hasanabi. He is well-known for his radical left sentiment. Back in 2019, during a live-stream Hasan said that “America deserved 9/11” and later he reinstated that opinion; Hasan has repeatedly claimed that Israel is an “apartheid state” illegally occupying Palestinian land. Additionally, Hasan also justified the horrific terror attack carried out by Hamas against Israel on October 7, 2023, saying, “It doesn’t matter if rape happened on October 7th. It doesn’t change the dynamic for me….”
According to the InfluenceWatch, Hasan Piker ranks among the top-25 Twitch streamers, with his audience primarily aged 16 to 25. Surprisingly, Hasanabi was never banned (or really affected) over f his openly anti-Israel and anti-American statements; Democrat Rep. Ritchie Torres called for a probe in November. Moreover, Twitch’s CEO Dan Clancy, together with the company’s staff, made an exclusive birthday greeting video specifically for Hasan. What is it if not an obvious sign of approval from the platform’s board?
The anti-Israel effort was not limited to Twitch streamers’ content only. In October 2024 it became public that Twitch had banned users from Israel from registering on the platform. They had banned users from Palestine as well, yet the pro-Palestine content still appeared. It became clear the company is not neutral, and something had to be done to ensure hate speech and antisemitism do not take over at Twitch, and corrupt the youth as a result.
Long-Awaited Backlash
Anti-Defamation League got in the game and began its investigation against way-too leftist streamers. In a post on X, October 22, the ADL found that many pro-Palestinian American streamers like Frogan made inappropriate statements insulting U.S. veterans and acting military. Later, November 15, the ADL criticized Hasan for his anti-Israeli comments about the Amsterdam pogrom.
At first, Clancy, as well as Twitch, seemed to understand how far they had gone and acted as if they were going to fix it. Frogan, as well as some other commentators, were banned October 22, the same day the ADL pointed to her misconduct in a large statement on X. A couple of days later, November 1, Twitch updated its policy and guidelines to ensure content that violated the rules gets banned. However, already November 21, Frogan and all others were unbanned and continued to spread their narratives. Apparently, Twitch only pretended to fix the antisemitism issue instead of taking the problem seriously.
Many might have forgotten but two years ago when Elon Musk purchased Twitter (now X), Twitch allegedly conspired an advertising boycott against Twitter, a so-called adpocalypse. Elon Musk even said on November 19 that he would sue Twitch because of these allegations.
Maybe Dan Clancy thought his superior — Amazon — would resolve that incident with the ADL without having to establish order on Twitch. This never happened, and the ADL went further and informed Twitch’s main advertisers what was going on and what kind of content giants Chevron and AT&T actually sponsored. That effort was quite successful, and on December 5, CEO Dan Clancy confirmed that the platform was dealing with its own adpocalypse as some 11 “significant” advertisers pulled ads.
Turning the Tide
Now, the Democrats’ agenda is on ice with Trump’s landslide victory, and larger companies are feeling the shifting trend, so they’re scaling back DEI initiatives that got little positive feedback among ordinary Americans. Walmart, NASDAQ, and others are swiftly turning back to widely welcomed conservative ideas. Under such circumstances it appears to be quite strange that tech giants like Amazon and its subsidiary Twitch desperately refuse to accept the reality in which we, the people, reject woke.
What is happening with Twitch is another reminder that the struggle between major political forces is not over, and is cropping up in other domains. While the GOP managed to win the battle for adults by defeating the legacy mainstream media with alternative ones like X, the battle for youth is ahead. That is, the Democrats are trying to reach out to younger Americans via content, videogames, movies and live-streams with woke and DEI narratives that are often anti-American. Now, after most adult U.S. citizens have made their choice and brought Donald Trump back to the Oval Office, this conundrum remains: Do we accept the new challenge, and if so, how do we ensure that the response is both respectful of the law and efficient at the same time?
Image: Free image, Pixabay license.
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