Congress Blocks AOC Amendment To Ban US Military From Recruiting On Streaming Sites
During the vote, Ocasio-Cortez tweeted, “Imagine trying to explain to your colleagues who are members of Congress what Twitch is.”
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On Thursday, the US House of Representatives blocked an amendment to its Defense Appropriations Bill for 2021 that would have barred the military from recruiting on streaming sites like Twitch. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), who wrote the amendment, chastised her congressional colleagues on the floor, saying, “War is not a game.”
“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 added.
During the vote, Ocasio-Cortez tweeted, “Imagine trying to explain to your colleagues who are members of Congress what Twitch is.” Although the amendment was unanimously opposed by Republican representatives, Democrats remained divided. Currently, the US Air Force, Army and Navy sponsor esports teams on Twitch, yet they have recently been called out for using the streaming platform as a recruitment tool.
Twitch recently stopped the Army from using a fake giveaway promotion to redirect viewers to a recruitment site. In addition, attorneys from the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University urged the Army and Navy to lift a ban against a user who asked about war crimes on their Twitch channels.
During the debate on the house floor, Rep. Pete Visclosky (D-Ind.), chair of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, stated, “The United States Military is a very special place…we ought to cast a very wide net to encourage young Americans to serve their country in the military.”
Visclosky added the military offers educational programs for young people, yet Ocasio-Cortez noted that on live-streaming platforms, children are inundated with ads that link to recruitment sign up forms, which allow kids as young as 12 to apply. Ocasio-Cortez also argued that first-person shooter games, like Call of Duty, cannot be conflated with war and military service.
This isn’t the first time the U.S. military has used video games as a recruitment tool. In 2002, the Army released the America’s Army video game series, which they claimed offered “an authentic and entertaining Army experience by reflecting the values, training, technology, skills and career advancement of a United States Army Soldier.”
In 2015, the Army launched the free-to-play America’s Army: Proving Grounds, which is rated Teen, meaning it has been deemed suitable for players 13 and older. Meanwhile, the Navy’s esports channel reads, “Other people will tell you not to stay up all night staring at a screen. We’ll pay you to do it.”
By law, you must be at least 17 to enlist in any branch of the active military.
Source: Forbes
Link Source : https://www.thegamer.com/aoc-amendment-military-recruitment-twitch/