Last night, October 20, Rep Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez participated in a live Twitch stream that included her, Rep Ilhan Omar, and notable streamers playing Among Us. The stream garnered a large amount of attention and viewership, reaching around 439,000 viewers, as AOC’s impromptu stream set out to get people to vote. But in using this platform for political reasons, AOC showed herself to be a hypocrite when it comes to her own views. Add to this the inclusion of controversial figures Rep Ilhan Omar and Hasan “HasanAbi” Piker and it’s a smorgasbord of unhealthy political influences to try and sway people and, because of the stream’s success, has opened up Pandora’s box.
Of course, one can certainly respect AOC when it comes to getting into politics and her ingenuity to utilize Twitch to try and garner more votes for her party. Though, to the latter, she wasn’t the first politician to think of it. Just more successful in her first night than any other politician who has been on Twitch. However, AOC’s use of Twitch to get more voters goes against her stance when certain entities are using the platform for advertising and recruiting.
A stance she took when she criticized the US military for using the platform for this purpose in a speech she gave, back in July, on the House floor saying, “Children should not be targeted in general for many marketing purposes in addition to military service.” She goes on to say, later on, that, “Right now, currently children on platforms such as Twitch are bombarded with banner ads that linked to recruitment signup forms that can be submitted by children as young as 12 years old. These are not educational outreach programs but recruitment forms for the military.”
AOC backed a bill to ban the US Military from streaming and eSports which failed to pass with 126 yeas and 292 nays. While one can commend her for addressing the issue, the solution is far from logical. While one can argue that it isn’t right that the military should be trying to recruit at such a young age, one has to remember that they start recruiting in high school. It is a viable career path for many who might see it as a way to quickly get out of certain circumstances, living conditions, or simply do so with the desire to serve their country.
With regards to her bill I would argue that, rather than banning the US Military outright, it would make more sense to put age restrictions on their content. Potentially making it harder for younger kids to see it. But even then, games such as America’s Army are only rated T for Teens which is for 14 and up. Kids in America start high school at age 14. You have ROTC programs in school to help with the recruiting process.
However, whether her criticisms are valid or not is another debate. But those same points she leveled at the US military, she has ignored as she is trying to get people to vote, according to her via Twitter when she asked, “Anyone want to play Among Us with me on Twitch to get out the vote?”
Now, it would be hypocritical of me to ignore the fact that you have to be 18+ in order to vote and that you can pre-register to vote when you are 16 or 17 in some states. But voters aren’t her only audience. If that were the case, my argument about her being a hypocrite wouldn’t have much merit. Yet the same young audience she brings up in her desire to ban the US military from Twitch are the same ones watching her play with some of the biggest Twitch streamers on the platform.
So here is the problem. When AOC talks about not using Twitch and eSports for recruiting purposes, the exception is suddenly made for her. Why? Because it’s not just about getting people to vote, it’s about influencing the next generation to your way of thinking at this point.
AOC’s purposeful backtracking on her stance, so long as it benefits her, comes as no surprise. But how many parents, mostly conservative/Republican/moderate, would want their children to watch AOC who is a Democrat Socialist? Someone who proclaimed that the world would end in 12 years because of climate change (she later went back on this) and has cost tens of thousands of her own constituents future jobs as she helped to stop Amazon from building a HQ in Long Island?
Jobs that were needed for a struggling working-class.
Yes, Amazon returned a year later with a new building plan, but it will only generate a fraction of the jobs the original plan would have brought to the area. Instead of 25,000 or more jobs, it has been whittled down to around 1,500. Yet AOC tried to treat this as a win for her. No apology to her constituents that she cost so many potential jobs or acknowledgement that she was ignorant on this issue.
On the other hand, I wouldn’t expect parents who are left-wing or Democrats to have their children watch conservative/Republican politicians streaming either. Let alone any politician that is surrounded by scandal or controversial events.
Sadly, that was not the case for AOC’s livestream. There is Ilhan Omar who was a participant in the live-stream who, I feel, shouldn’t be introduced to young gamers. Omar, notorious for saying “some people did some things” in regards to the horrific 9/11 attack (she later went on to defend what she said), is also under investigation for marriage fraud (accused of marrying her brother to get him into the US), and her district is in the center of one of the most egregious examples of illegal ballot harvesting in this current election.
Omar was also having an affair before finally getting divorced and has also been criticized for having never condemned terrorist groups such as Al Qaeda. Despite her indignation at being asked this question, she has yet to go on record as having done so. There is also the case of Twitch streamer Hasanabi who claimed that “America deserved 9/11, dude” back in August 2019 which resulted in his channel being temporarily suspended. Not exactly people that children should be exposed to, in my opinion.
Whether you disagree with some or all of these individual’s opinions and actions is not exactly the whole point. The main thrust of this editorial is to not just point out AOC’s hypocrisy, but the fact that Pandora’s box has now been opened. With AOC’s success, what’s to stop politicians such as Senator Ted Cruz and Rep Dan Crenshaw from doing a similar livestream utilizing whatever video game is popular at the time?
Sure, President Trump and Bernie Sanders utilized Twitch to try and reach young voters. But they didn’t properly use it. Whereas AOC used the platform for maximum effect. Playing a popular game, in this case Among Us, as the vehicle to draw in viewers and encourage eligible voters to go out and vote for Biden/Harris while lightly touching upon political topics such as healthcare..
As I stated before, I don’t expect parents from one side of the political spectrum to approve of their kids watching politicians from the opposite end. But if, for example, AOC had checked off the Mature Content box for her stream, I wouldn’t be here talking about this. That is, if doing so would result in preventing younger kids from watching the stream or VODs. Which is not the case. Checking that box just brings up a warning that there might be inappropriate content for young kids. It doesn’t stop them from watching the content.
So you would think that Twitch would have a system set up that would prevent children from watching mature content. After all, that is why the ESRB rating system exists: to prevent young children from buying games that are inappropriate for their age (also formed to prevent the government from stepping in). Retailers are penalized/fined for selling Rated M games to minors. Why isn’t there something similar for streaming platforms like Twitch, YouTube Gaming, and Facebook Gaming?
If things are to progress where politicians are going to be streaming to try and influence young and upcoming voters, a system should be in place where streamers can, and must, prevent minors from viewing the live stream and the VODs. The same thing should apply to the US military when it comes to streaming platforms. AOC has a legitimate concern but had the absolutely wrong approach to the problem. Such a shame that she doesn’t recognize the irony and hypocrisy of what she has done.
AOC’s success and shrewd ability to take advantage of Twitch for her and her party’s benefit is one to admire. Unsurprisingly, mainstream video game and news outlets are praising AOC, Omar, and participating Twitch streamers for the event. Using the stream to promote one-sided political views which, over the years, has led to criticism of the industry as a whole. Yet while video game click-jocks are writing up fluff pieces about this, none of them are concerned about the possible repercussions her success could have on these platforms and whether or not other politicians will copy her strategy; compounded by the fact that Twitch is not prepared and doesn’t seem to have any plans to deal with this.
The box has been opened, now it is time to see what comes out of it.
Addition:
Having had multiple discussions about this article and people not getting the gist of what was written I have a question to ask. Why is it okay for an 18-year-old to cast their vote but not make the decision to join the military? Do you think they can make an informed decision about one and not the other?
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