Infowars is broadcasting on Twitch (updated)
Written by John Whitehouse
Research contributions from Madeline Peltz
Published
Updated
Update (4/7/22): The channel has been taken down.
Conspiracy theory network Infowars, including Sandy Hook and 9/11 conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, is being broadcast on Twitch.
The streaming service, which is owned by Amazon, has a “zero tolerance” policy that explicitly prohibits content or activity “that promotes or encourages discrimination, denigration, harassment, or violence based on the following protected characteristics: race, ethnicity, color, caste, national origin, immigration status, religion, sex, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, serious medical condition, and veteran status.”
Twitch also has a “harmful misinformation” policy:
- Misinformation that targets protected groups, which is already prohibited under our Hateful Conduct & Harassment Policy
- Harmful health misinformation and wide-spread conspiracy theories related to dangerous treatments, COVID-19, and COVID-19 vaccine misinformation
- Discussions of treatments that are known to be harmful without noting the dangers of such treatments
- For COVID-19—and any other WHO-declared Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC)—misinformation that causes imminent physical harm or is part of a broad conspiracy
- Misinformation promoted by conspiracy networks tied to violence and/or promoting violence
- Civic misinformation that undermines the integrity of a civic or political process
- Promotion of verifiably false claims related to the outcome of a fully vetted political process, including election rigging, ballot tampering, vote tallying, or election fraud*
- In instances of public emergencies (e.g., wildfires, earthquakes, active shootings), we may also act on misinformation that may impact public safety
We’ll spare everyone a detailed rundown, but on both accounts, there is absolutely no doubt that Jones’ program and other Infowars content clearly violate these standards. This is the very point of Infowars.
The conspiracy theory network currently broadcasts on @banneddotvideo on Amazon’s streaming service, apparently streaming all of Infowars’ programming.
Infowars is linking to it from what appears to be most, if not all, of its website content: