U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-New York) is planning to introduce a measure that would prevent the U.S. Army and other arms of the military from using esports, video games, and streaming websites as tools for recruitment, according to a report by Vice.
Ocasio-Cortez’s draft amendment, filed today, would prevent the military from using funds to “maintain a presence on Twitch.com or any video game, e-sports, or live-streaming platform.”
The Army has been under scrutiny for using fake Twitch stream giveaways to attract viewers to fill out recruitment forms. Twitch has since forced the Army to remove such giveaways.
Recently, both the U.S. Army and Navy Twitch channels have also been banning users for mentioning U.S. war crimes.
As Vice notes, the House Appropriations Bill has a long road to being passed in the standard but lengthy process that politics are known for. The U.S. Army, Navy, and Air Force all have esports teams that stream on Twitch.
The Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University sent a letter to the U.S. Army and Navy Recruiting Commands earlier today demanding they unban all viewers who asked about war crimes. Esports journalist Rod “Slasher” Breslau also reported today that “due to recent media coverage of fake giveaways and potentially unconstitutional bans, the US Army esports team has paused social activity, streaming on Twitch, and official activations with Twitch including participating in upcoming Twitch Rivals events.”
