Twitch is holding off on airing its monthly Twitch Prime Show for June amid civil unrest in the U.S. in response to the death of George Floyd by in Minneapolis. The move comes as protests against systemic racism and police brutality ramp up across the country.
Typically, the Twitch Prime show, which airs on a monthly basis, boasts a high-spirited mood as hosts run viewers through the ever-changing array of benefits that Twitch Prime members can get at a given time.
While the official Twitch Prime Twitter account didn’t directly mention police brutality protests, its post strongly suggested the mood of the show doesn’t fit with the national conversation going on in the U.S.
“With respect to the current events, we have decided to place a hold on June’s Twitch Prime Show,” the post said. “We plan to go live at a future date within June and will provide you with updates when we have them. Thank you for your understanding. Together we stand united.”
On June 2, when many streamers were participating in Blackout Tuesday, Twitch made a post on Twitter in support of the Black Lives Matter movement. Editing a piece of its own marketing, the platform edited the word “streaming” out of one of its phrases, “We are a streaming community.”
“Moving forward, we realize we need to do more to support Black people and fight racism,” Twitch said. “So we’re pausing our regular social media activity while we work on ways to make lasting change both on and off our service.”
The decision to postpone or cancel the Twitch Prime show appears to be an extension of that initiative by Twitch.
Meanwhile, Amazon, Twitch’s parent company, yesterday posted that in “solidarity with the Black community” it would be donating $10 million to a handful of organizations made to support Black Americans, including the NAACP and Equal Justice Initiative.
