Twitch has seemingly placed a ban on new users from Israel, sparking controversy among site users and others.
2024 has been a rough year for Twitch. Earlier in the year, the company experienced massive layoffs. Twitch CEO Dan Clancy admitted Twitch was not profitable, which may explain the loss of exclusivity contracts among many high-profile streamers including Imane “Pokimane” Anys.
The platform also saw the loss of high-profile streamers due to controversy. Twitch recently banned Zack “Asmongold” Hoyt after he shared anti-Palestinian sentiments. Yet more controversy emerged once users shared concerning news about Twitch’s new user requirements. Reportedly, the platform now blocks people from Israel from signing up.
Did Twitch ban users in Israel?
Multiple users from Israel reported they could not create new accounts on the Twitch platform. Twitch has seemingly banned users based in Israel from creating new accounts, with many citing a “blocked country IP” as the primary reason. Israeli news site Ynet broke the story in October 2024, and users then corroborated the story across social media. Users in Palestine also reported the same block, though it may be inadvertent due to the shared use of ISPs with Israel.
Reports of blocked users from Israel reach back as early as May 2024. Twitch streamer Force shared that their fans who migrated from YouTube to Twitch could not create new accounts. Force confirmed that the issue remained active as of October 2024. Twitter user Jay Vee also shared a supposed screenshot from Twitch support about the Israel ban.
“Unfortunately, you are not eligible to create a Twitch account,” Twitch support said.
In addition to emails, users also could not use their phone numbers to create new accounts. While sign-up allowed them to input their numbers, they never received the one-time code to complete the process. As of this writing, Twitch has not given an official reason for the ban.
With the loss of exclusivity contracts, mass layoffs, heightened subscription prices, and multiple high-profile bans, Twitch seems to be in a tough spot. The Israel ban is just one among many issues that have affected Twitch over the past year. With streamers beginning to move to other platforms like YouTube or Kick, some fans have also left.
Even if the ban on Israel-based users is lifted, some may not bother to return after the headaches Twitch has caused.
UPDATE: Twitch has claimed that the ban, while real, was unintentionally left in place following events that took place in October 2023, over one year ago. The streaming platform has promised to reverse the ban following public outcry.