Twitch has been having one hell of a week, so it's a little odd that this is the time that Republican congressman Matt Gaetz has decided to set up his own Twitch channel to bring his "America First message to a new generation of viewers."
Announced via his personal Twitter account, Gaetz has now added Twitch to the long list of platforms he already streams on which include Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. Expectedly, the announcement has brought forth a decent amount of backlash, mostly over the timing of Gaetz's announcement following a story about Twitch potentially having a massive problem with child predators.
It's estimated that 1,976 users on Twitch exhibit "unusual patterns of behavior" that have led researchers to believe that these accounts only really exist to prey on and manipulate young children. Meanwhile, Matt Gaetz is still being investigated for alleged involvement in sex trafficking and for allegedly having a relationship with a 17-year-old. Even if the allegations prove to be false, Gaetz joining Twitch immediately after it's claimed the platform potentially has a problem with child predators still isn't exactly the best look.
Even if there weren't reports of a grooming problem on Twitch, Gaetz has still picked one hell of a time to get involved, as several controversies over the past couple of weeks have left the future of the platform up in the air. For starters, Twitch recently annoyed its largest creators by reducing its revenue split from 70/30 to 50/50 for streamers earning over $100,000. It's not a change that will affect the vast majority of the platform's creators but could force their biggest to look elsewhere.
Twitch has also had to announce a policy change that will ban unlicensed and crypto gambling from being streamed on the platform after popular streamer ItsSliker conned $200,000 out of their audience to fund their gambling addiction. So, all in all, not the best time to announce the beginning of your Twitch channel.