The face of the PogChamp emote on Twitch has recently commented on the protests in the US capital and his comments were not exactly good ones. So, Twitch acted fast and has banned the emote from its platform.
The PogChamp emote is often used to show hype or excitement. If the streamer makes a sick play, you will often see PogChamp or poggers spammed in chat. But the face of the emote has chosen to make a controversial statement about politics and now his emote is banned.
- READ MORE: PaymoneyWubby is Banned by Twitch Again!
Who Is PogChamp?
He is the Cross Country TV Co-Founder Ryan "Gootecks" Gutierrez and because of his comments on the protests in Washington D.C., it has led to the removal of his emote. Without getting bogged down in the political weeds since we are a gaming news site and not CNN, Gootecks comments “encouraged violence,” so Twitch got out its ban hammer rather quickly!
We've made the decision to remove the PogChamp emote following statements from the face of the emote encouraging further violence after what took place in the Capitol today.
— Twitch (@Twitch) January 7, 2021
Good on Twitch for taking a stance on this one. There is no need for an emote to have political baggage. Everyone should feel safe on its platform, and you should not have to worry about an emote carrying hidden meaning. This is not the first time emotes have gained a political dimension. Maybe you remember Pepe the frog and the okay hand symbol have both been used to carry out political agendas. Let’s keep gaming a safe place and just ban and replace these problematic emotes. We are gaming, not politicking!
However, PogChamp is not dead, its spirit will live on according to Twitch as a new emote will be made to replace it.
We want the sentiment and use of Pog to live on - its meaning is much bigger than the person depicted or image itself- and it has a big place in Twitch culture. However, we can't in good conscience continue to enable use of the image.
— Twitch (@Twitch) January 7, 2021
Expect to see Twitch in the coming weeks seek community input in order to create a new emote to express hype in your favorite streamer’s chat.
We will work with the community to design a new emote for the most hype moments on Twitch.
— Twitch (@Twitch) January 7, 2021
Swing by the Influencers section for the latest in gaming drama and check out EarlyGame for all the rest on gaming & esports.