Since October 7, 2023, Twitch has reportedly been restricting the creation of new accounts in Israel and Palestine, raising concerns over censorship and the platform’s control over user access. According to a report from 404 Media, individuals in these regions have faced barriers when trying to sign up, with verification processes through both phone and email leading to error messages and blocking access to the platform.
Twitch has since responded, explaining on social media that it had “temporarily disabled sign-ups with email verification in Israel and Palestine” following the violent attack on October 7. The company stated that the measure was intended to “prevent uploads of graphic material related to the attack and to protect the safety of users.” Despite this, the platform insisted that new registrations were never fully halted, claiming that sign-ups continued from both regions, although email verification remained an obstacle.
Further clarifying its position, Twitch admitted that the feature meant to allow email verification was mistakenly not restored after its temporary suspension. “We deeply regret this unacceptable miss, and the confusion it has caused,” the company acknowledged, confirming that the issue has since been addressed, with email verification now functional for affected users.
However, 404 Media’s report casts doubt on the platform’s narrative. The outlet reported its unsuccessful attempt to create a Twitch account from Israel using a VPN, with both phone and email verification methods remaining blocked, suggesting a more extensive and perhaps deliberate restriction than Twitch has admitted.
