Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez introduced a measure to stop the military from using video games as a recruitment tool
- Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) has introduced a measure that would prevent military branches from using video games and esports for recruitment purposes.
- The measure, which was filed as an amendment to the House Appropriations Bill, comes after a wave of controversy over the US Army and Navy esports teams.
- The US Army esports team confirmed to Insider Wednesday that it had "paused streaming" video games on Twitch.
Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York has introduced a measure that would prevent the military from using video games and esports as a recruitment tool, Vice reported on Wednesday.
The move comes after a wave of controversy surrounding the US Army esports team, which confirmed to Insider that it has "paused streaming" video games on Twitch in order to "evaluate internal policies and procedures, as well as all platform-specific policies."
Ocasio-Cortez's measure was filed on July 22 as an amendment to the House Appropriations bill, and would prohibit "the use of funds for recruiting via video gaming and e-sports platforms." Vice reported that the measure would prevent the military from using any funds appropriated by the bill for maintaining a presence on Twitch or any gaming livestreaming platform.
"It's incredibly irresponsible for the Army and the Navy to be recruiting impressionable young people and children via live streaming platforms," Ocasio-Cortez told Vice.
The US Army esports team has recently found itself mired in controversy. What started as online criticism of the practice of using video games as a recruitment tool has spiraled into a series of mini-scandals. The Nation reported on July 15 that the team posted giveaways on its Twitch channel that led to a recruitment form. The team instigated more criticism from free speech advocates after it banned users who brought up United States war crimes on the team's Twitch channel or Discord.
The New York Times reported that the Knight First Amendment Institute had sent a letter to Army and Navy recruiters (the Navy maintains a Twitch presence as well) on the behalf of activist Jordan Uhl, who had been banned from the Army's Twitch channel for asking "what's your favorite U.S. w4r cr1me." The letter argued that banning users who mention war crimes violates the First Amendment.
As Vice noted, it'll take more than a few steps for Ocasio-Cortez's amendment to become law. It must first pass through the House Appropriations Committee on Rules, which will decide which pending amendments will advance. The budget must also pass through multiple committees and the full House itself before moving on to the Senate and then the president's desk.
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