The news comes from VICE, who published a report featuring a link to said amendment. If approved, it will inhibit the military from using funds to “maintain a presence on Twitch.com or any video game, e-sports, or live-streaming platform.” It is important to note that this amendment was submitted as part of the House Appropriations bill, a relatively early step in the overall Pentagon budget. As a result, even if the pending amendment is deemed admissible for progression - at which point it would proceed to the next phase on July 27 - it still has a rather lengthy political process ahead of it prior to any official advancement to legislative action.
Even if AOC’s amendment is stalled somewhere along the way, its introduction testifies to the fact that the military’s days of advertising on gaming platforms and streaming services are numbered - if not now, then surely the principle of this amendment will be converted into law soon. “It’s incredibly irresponsible for the Army and the Navy to be recruiting impressionable young people and children via live streaming platforms," Ocasio-Cortez told VICE’s Motherboard. “War is not a game, and the Marine Corps’ decision not to engage in this recruiting tool should be a clear signal to the other branches of the military to cease this practice entirely.” On top of being a US House representative for the Bronx and Queens, Ocasio-Cortez is an avid player of League of Legends, and is therefore well aware of the power esports and streaming hold over impressionable young teenagers in the US. The fact several military departments have their own esports teams only further accentuates how murky the waters are when it comes to military advertising on popular gaming platforms. The amendment may not pass this time around, but its existence is indicative of the fact that, sooner or later, it probably will.
