Twitch has removed their popular Pogchamp emote today, following inappropriate conduct by the person the emote is based on.
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.
— Twitch (@Twitch) January 7, 2021
They announced the removal of the emote in a series of tweets today, doubling down that it was expressly related to the Internet personality Ryan “Gootecks” Gutierrez
As many may be upset at the emote’s removal, Twitch acknowledged that its become an important part of the platform’s culture.
“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”, their tweet reads.
In a sense, what they’re trying to say is that they probably won’t start disallowing parodies of the Pogchamp emote, as many streamers have incorporated some homage to it in their own custom sets. It’s purely speculation on our part, but the line would probably be in any portrayal of Gootecks.
The Pogchamp emote has seen an increase in popularity, with many netizens incorporating the word into their off-Twitch vocabulary to describe things that are good or hype. Twitch has said that they’ll work to redesign the emote, preferably with a less contentious likeness.
This comes following a tumultuous day in the US Capitol, with rioters storming the building following outgoing US President Donald Trump failing to be re-elected.
Gootecks has been overwhelmingly in support of the rioters, with Twitch describing his comments as “encouraging further violence”.