Twitch Tells US Army To Stop Sharing Fake Prize Giveaways That Sent Users To Recruitment Page

Twitch has intervened to stop the US Army using fake prize giveaways on its esports channel to redirect viewers to army recruitment pages. From a report: The practice was brought to light by a report from The Nation on the use of esports as a recruitment tool by the American military. The US Army, Navy, and Air Force all field esports teams comprised of active and reserve personnel who stream on Twitch and chat with young viewers about life, video games, and the opportunities afforded by military service. "Esports is just an avenue to start a conversation," Major-General Frank Muth, head of the army's recruiting command, told ThinkTech Hawaii recently. "We go out there and we have a shared passion for esports ... and it naturally devolves into a conversation, 'What do you do?', 'I'm in the army.'" This outreach included automated links dropped into the army's stream chat that told viewers they could win an Xbox Elite Series 2 controller in a "giveaway." But when anyone clicked the link, says The Nation, they were directed to "a recruiting form with no additional mention of a contest, odds, total number of winners, or when a drawing will occur." Viewers, streamers, and game developers reacted with anger to the news, saying that any other channel would face repercussions for such behavior. Twitch itself has now apparently forced the army to stop these giveaways, according to a report from Kotaku.

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