Twitch, the most popular streaming platform, has added a new feature to combat online harassment. The tool allows streamers to block users they have banned from their channel, preventing them from viewing their streams. This way, streamers can rid themselves of trolls, haters, and stalkers who make their lives difficult.
This feature, announced last August, was one of the most requested by the community for years, as until now, it was only possible to prevent banned users from participating in the chat, not from continuing to view the content.
To activate the new feature, you simply need to go to the creator’s control panel and enable the “Prevent blocked users from watching the stream” checkbox in the moderation settings. The feature also applies to users personally blocked by the streamer, meaning they will automatically be banned from the channel.
However, there is a limitation: the function only works with users who are logged into their Twitch accounts, so if they log out or create another account, they can still view the stream. Twitch plans to add more measures to prevent unwanted users from seeing VODs, clips, and highlights.
Twitch has been implementing stronger moderation tools to create a “layered” approach to security. Last year, the platform added a tool to detect users attempting to bypass channel bans using artificial intelligence.
The tool uses machine learning to identify suspicious accounts and alerts channel moderators. The platform also introduced a feature to share and request lists of banned users among channels. This way, channels can automatically restrict all users on another channel’s ban list.
Marginalized communities, especially black and transgender streamers, are particularly vulnerable to targeted harassment on Twitch. In March, content creators pressured Twitch to take action against hate raids, which flood a streamer’s channel with offensive and hateful messages, through the #TwitchDoBetter campaign.
“Everyone in the comments claiming that this is nonsense or something negative has never had a harasser or feared for their safety,” said streamer Divatron9000 on Twitter. “There’s a reason why we’ve been asking for this feature for YEARS, and I’m glad they FINALLY listened to us.”
