Recent reports have claimed Twitch prevented users in Israel from creating accounts on the livestreaming platform, but Twitch is now denying these accusations. Instead, the platform said the issue stemmed from the email verification process, a problem it has since fixed.
Twitch released a statement yesterday on X (formerly Twitter) denying it had prevented users from signing up to the streaming platform. It admitted, however, to temporarily disabling signups with email verification in both Israel and Palestine following the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas-led terrorist attack on Israel where approximately 1,200 people were killed.
“Following the October 7, 2023 attacks, we temporarily disabled sign ups with email verification in Israel and Palestine,” Twitch’s statement reads. “We did this to prevent uploads of graphic material related to the attack and to protect the safety of users.”
The platform debunked online claims that it prevented signups entirely, saying people from both regions had continued to be able to create accounts through phone verification since the platform turned off email verification. Twitch also suggested that it had forgotten to flip the switch that allowed users to sign up through email back on and apologized for the mistake.
“We deeply regret this unacceptable miss, and the confusion it has caused,” Twitch wrote. “We’ve fixed the issue, meaning all affected users can sign up with email verification.”
Although prospective Twitch users have reported their inability to sign up for an account since May, the alleged Israel ban first gained mainstream momentum when H3H3 Productions, otherwise known as Ethan Klein, released a video titled “Twitch Has a Major Problem.” In the Oct. 19 video, Klein says he’s “suspected Twitch of having an anti-Semitism problem” following certain rhetoric at official Twitch events and visual imagery allowed on the platform. Ynet, a leading Israel news site, followed Klein’s video yesterday with a report on the alleged block.
Twitch has faced backlash on all sides for its decisions around disciplinary measures against what it deems as hateful rhetoric. Most recently, it banned popular streamer Asmongold on Oct. 15 for calling Palestinians “terrible people” from an “inferior culture.” Asmongold later apologized for the comments and vowed to make changes to his language moving forward, but that didn’t stop an onslaught of his followers from criticizing the platform for what they believed to be inconsistencies around Twitch’s disciplinary measures.
