House Blocks AOC’s Amendment To Bar U.S. Military From Recruiting On Video Game Streaming Sites Like Twitch

TOPLINE

The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday blocked an amendment to its Defense Appropriations bill for fiscal 2021 that would have barred the U.S. military from recruiting on video game streaming sites like Amazon's Twitch, with the amendment's author Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) saying on the floor, "War is not a game."

NEW YORK, NY - APRIL 14: Representative Alexandria Ocasio Cortez (D-NY) speaks at a press conference ... [+] at Corona Plaza in Queens on April 14, 2020 in New York City. Ocasio-Cortez was joined by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) at the conference, where both called for the Federal Emergency Management Administration to fund funeral costs in low-income communities of color during the ongoing amid the coronavirus pandemic. (Photo by Scott Heins/Getty Images)

"This amendment is specifically to block recruitment practices and funding for recruitment practices on platforms such as Twitch.tv, which are live-streaming platforms which are largely populated by children well under the age of military recruitment rules," Ocasio-Cortez said.

While Republicans unanimously opposed the measure, Democrats were split, with Ocasio-Cortez taking to Twitter during the vote to say, "Imagine trying to explain to your colleagues who are members of Congress what Twitch is."

The U.S. Airforce, Army and Navy all sponsor esports teams with members streaming to Twitch, but recent controversies prompted concerns over the recruitment practice.

Twitch stepped in to stop the Army from using a faux giveaway to redirect viewers to a recruitment form, and lawyers from the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University demanded that the Army and Navy reverse bans on their Twitch channels against a user who asked about U.S. war crimes in the channels' chats.

Rep. Pete Visclosky (D-Ind.), who chairs the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, spoke out against the amendment during debate, saying, "The United States Military is a very special place...we oughta cast a very wide net to encourage young Americans to serve their country in the military."

Visclosky argued the military conducts educational programs for young people, but Ocasio-Cortez responded, "Children on platforms such as Twitch are bombarded with banner ads that link to recruitment sign up forms that can be submitted by children as young as 12 years old. These are not educational outreach programs but recruitment forms."

Referencing first-person shooter games popular with military members streaming on Twitch, like Call of Duty, Ocasio-Cortez said, "We cannot conflate war and military service with this kind of gamified format." She later tweeted, "Its totally fine if you dont know what Twitch is, but tech literacy is becoming an [sic] growing need in Congress so we can legislate to protect peoples privacy."

Using games as a means to recruit young people into the U.S. military isnt new. In 2002, the Army launched the America's Army series of video games, the latest being the free-to-play America's Army: Proving Grounds. "Funded by the Army Marketing and Research Group, America's Army, the official game of the U.S. Army, delivers an authentic and entertaining Army experience by reflecting the values, training, technology, skills and career advancement of a United States Army Soldier," the official video game page reads. Proving Grounds is rated Teen, meaning the content in the game is suitable for people ages 13 and older.

Following the accusations that the U.S. Army violated the first amendment right to free speech by banning a Twitch user from its channeljust as President Trump is restricted from blocking Twitter usersthe military branch told GameSpot that it would pause activities on the platform and "review internal policies and procedures, as well as all platform-specific policies, to ensure those participating in the space are clear before streaming resumes. The "About" page for the Navy's esports channel reads, "Other people will tell you not to stay up all night staring at a screen. Well pay you to do it."