Amazon-Owned Twitch Bans Streamers From Promoting Marijuana But Allows Alcohol Branding In Policy Update
Twitch, the video game streaming platform owned by Amazon, has unveiled new controversial guidelines which prohibit streamers from being sponsored by cannabis brands or products.
The streaming giant published updated ‘Branded Content Guidelines’ last week (June 06), stating that ‘burned in’ video, display, and audio ads, all popular with high-revenue streamers, would no longer be allowed.
Following an angry backlash on social media, the platform publicly rolled back the changes a day later, stating that the revised guidelines were ‘bad for you and bad for Twitch, and we are removing them immediately’.
According to coverage in Marijuana Moment and High Times, Twitch left guidelines in place which ban cannabis sponsorships, but continued to allow alcohol sponsorships.
Prominant streamer, JimTanna, said the new rules meant that ‘everyone is confused’, which he said would hurt the ability of users to make a living on the service.
States act to deny licenses for cannabis companies with debt woes
Regulators across the US are now ramping up efforts to penalise cannabis companies failing to pay vendors, taxes and business fees.
According to reporting in MJBiz Daily, New Jersey has recently joined California, Michigan, Nevada, New York and Oregon in taking a hard-line stance against such companies.
It comes as cannabis business contend with overproduction, plummeting wholesale prices and high taxation and compliance costs, seeing many struggle to keep their head above water.
Director of the American Trade Association of Cannabis and Hemp in Washington DC, Chris Lindsey, said: “The federal government and the tax provisions of 280E are being grossly misapplied to state-licensed businesses, which has a real downstream impact.
“Businesses that are working to comply with regulatory systems face a tremendous squeeze just to find themselves in competition not only with others in the legal market but also the illicit market.
Did the US Government Inadvertently Just Fund the Cannabis Industry?
The US Government is now ‘banking cannabis, whether they know it or not’ following the collapse of Signature Bridge Bank.
Signature Bridge Bank became the third US bank to collapse following Silicon Valley Bank and Silvergate Capital Corp earlier this year.
The bank, which was one of the few to offer financial products to regulated cannabis businesses, was seized by federal regulators following its collapse on March 12, 2023, Cannabis Now reports.
Speaking on the Alpharoot podcast recently, head of the investment team at Merida Capital Holdings, Mina Mishrikey, explained that the seizure put the federal government in the business of providing financial services to the cannabis industry, despite the continued illegality of cannabis federally.
“The irony is that the US government is now banking cannabis, whether they know it or not, because they took over Signature Bank,” Mishrikey said
