The US Army will resume video game streaming on Twitch following the controversial bans of users who brought up war crimes

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The US Army will resume video game streaming on Twitch following the controversial bans of users who brought up war crimes
The US Army Esports team playing Call of Duty at an event in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in January 2020.US Army Esports/Facebook
  • The US Army Esports Team will return to Twitch to stream video games sometime in the "near future," a US Army spokesperson said in a statement provided to Insider.
  • It will also reinstate access for accounts that had previously been banned for "harassing and degrading behavior" and is reviewing and clarifying its policies for streams.
  • The team's Twitch channel has been the source of controversy in recent weeks after those who asked about topics like United States war crimes were banned.
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The US Army Esports Team, after sustaining massive backlash for its Twitch streams and recruiting practices, is looking to return to streaming on Twitch in the "near future." In a statement provided to Insider, a US Army spokesperson said that it will reinstate access for accounts that had previously been banned for "harassing and degrading behavior."

The team, and in particular its Twitch channel, have come under fire recently for criticism over its use as a recruitment tool and its bans of people who brought up United States war crimes in the chat during streams. Democratic representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York filed an amendment to the House Appropriations bill on July 22 that would prohibit the US military from recruiting on Twitch. It failed in a July 30 vote.

Amid the controversy, the US Army confirmed to Insider on July 22 that it had "paused" streaming on Twitch following concerns that banning users who asked about war crimes potentially violated free speech laws.

Jordan Uhl was banned from the US Army's Twitch channel for asking "what's your favorite u.s. w4r cr1me" and wrote about the experience and controversy surrounding the US Army and Navy Twitch channels for The Nation.

Representing Uhl, the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University published a letter to Army and Navy recruiters arguing that banning Uhl from the channels violated the First Amendment, calling for the un-banning of Uhl as well as others who had been "banned from the channels based on similar speech." The letter also called for the Army and Navy to clarify its policies so that others would not be banned from the channel in the future.

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"The team is reviewing and clarifying its policies and procedures for the stream and will provide all who have been banned the opportunity to participate in the space as long as they follow the team's guidelines," a US Army spokesperson said in a statement provided to Insider, saying that the team will begin streaming again on Twitch in the "near future" but has not set a specific date yet. The statement said that "personal attacks, crude language, pornographic material, harassment and bullying" will not be allowed on the stream.

"We're pleased that the Army intends to unban the users who were banned for engaging in core political speech, and we look forward to reviewing the Army's new moderation policies. "We will closely monitor how those policies are applied in practice," Meenakshi Krishnan, Legal Fellow at the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, said in a statement provided to Insider, also saying that the institute was "troubled" the Navy had not yet reassessed its own policies.

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