Why was Pogchamp removed from Twitch?

TWITCH has axed one of its most popular emotes following dangerous comments made by star of the image.

Streamer Ryan “Gootecks” Gutierrez, whose wide-eyed face features in the PogChamp emote, encouraged his Twitter followers to continue the “civil unrest” after violent protesters stormed Capitol Hill on Wednesday.

Twitch has binned the popular PogChamp emote following alarming comments made by the person featured in the imageCredit: Twitch

What is the PogChamp emote and why has Twitch axed it?

Emotes are icons or images specific to Twitch that viewers use to communicate with or react to something they’re watching.

One of the platform’s most popular emotes in PogChamp – an image of an excited man with his eyes wide and mouth open.

It’s used by Twitch fans to express shock, surprise, or excitement.

The man in the image is Ryan “Gootecks” Gutierrez, a fighting personality based in Los Angeles, California.

Twitch is the world's most popular live streaming service — Twitch is the world’s most popular live streaming serviceCredit: Alamy

On Wednesday, Gootecks landed himself in hot water with a series of alarming comments made about violent protests in Washington D.C.

Hundreds of Trump supporters had just stormed the Capitol building as lawmakers met to certify the results of November’s election.

One woman who was shot by police during the confrontation later died in hospital.

Gootecks wrote on Twitter: “Will there be civil unrest for the woman who was executed inside the Capitol today or will the #MAGAMartyr die in vain?

“The video will be aired soon on (banned dot video) & (theresistance dot video) and it sounds pretty gruesome.”

The professional Street Fighter player’s reckless comments sparked outrage on social media.

Twitch later said in a statement that it had removed the PogChamp emote due to Gootecks “encouraging further violence”.

What has Twitch said about it?

Twitch explained why it removed the emote is a series of Twitter postsCredit: Twitter

Twitch explained its reasoning for removing the emote in a series of Twitter posts on Wednesday.

“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,” the streaming platform said.

“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.

“We will work with the community to design a new emote for the most hype moments on Twitch.”

What happened at Capitol Hill?

Violent protests erupted in Washington D.C. on Wednesday, with hundreds of protesters storming Capitol Hill in unprecedented scenes.

The violent riots erupted after Trump told supporters to prevent President Elect Joe Biden’s election win being certified: “We’re going to walk down to the Capitol.

As the protestors charged into the Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi’s office, lawmakers were evacuated and staffers ordered to take emergency bags with food, water and gas marks as they fled the building.

Mr Trump posted on Twitter, urging protestors to stay “peaceful” but stopped short of telling them to leave.

He said: “I am asking for everyone at the U.S. Capitol to remain peaceful. No violence!”

Trump eventually released a video telling those that sieged the building to “go home” – as he still made unbacked claims of fraud and told demonstrators they were “special”.

Meanwhile, the vice-President Mike Pence told anyone involved in the protests to head home.

Twitch – the world’s biggest streaming site explained

Here’s what you need to know…

Twitch is a website dedicated to hosting livestreams watched by millions around the world
The platform is owned by Amazon and largely focusses on video game livestreams
However, content creators also upload clips of themselves creating artwork or music, or simply having a chat
Twitch boasts more than 15million daily active users watching clips streamed by around 3million creators
Its creators make money through a mix of paid subscripions, advertising revenue and donations from viewers
Some of the site’s biggest earners make millions every year, largely through sponsorship deals with big brands
Twitch is worth an estimated £3billion
Its biggest competitors are Microsoft-owned streaming platform Mixer, YouTube (which is owned by Google) and Facebook Live

A woman has died after being ‘shot in chest’ in Capitol building after Congress was stormed by protestors