AOC's Military Twitch Ban Voted Down In US House

The U.S. House of Representatives has voted down a measure that would have prevented the military from recruiting on platforms like Twitch. Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez proposed the amendment after the US Army was caught running fake giveaways that would give viewers information to recruiters among other controversies.

The measure would have prevented the military from using video games, esports, and livestreaming services for recruitment, according to Vice. Several branches of the military, including the US Army and Navy, maintain their own esports teams and Twitch channels. The US Army recently paused their recruitment efforts on Twitch after facing backlash.

Numerous controversies regarding the military's Twitch presence have occurred over the past month. The US Army and the US Navy have been banning viewers who ask or talk about war crimes, which is potentially a violation of the First Amendment right to free speech since the organizations are extensions of the federal government. Twitch recently stopped the US Army from promoting the aforementioned giveaways that would give viewers information to recruiters.

The measure was introduced as an amendment to the House Appropriations bill that sets the Pentagon's budget. It would have stopped funding being allocated towards recruitment efforts on Twitch. 103 Democrats, who currently have the majority in the House of Representatives, joined Republicans in voting it down.

Ocasio-Cortez tweeted that she had trouble explaining what Twitch was to members of Congress. The average age of members of Congress is nearly 60--not the target audience for Fortnite and Call of Duty: Warzone streams.