Twitch is reportedly set to launch new anti-hate raid tools for streamers that will give content creators more control over who could chat on their channel.
According to streaming reporter Zach Bussey (as spotted by Kotaku), the platform is apparently planning to add features that will more easily allow streamers to restrict who can or cannot comment in their chats. This will be done through mobile and email verification.
While Twitch currently bans accounts for breaking its terms of service and engaging in hate speech, it's incredibly easy for offenders to create new accounts and continue spewing out abhorrent slurs and insults. The new system would mean that streamers on the platform could set requirements on their channels that require audience members to verify a phone number or email address before being able to access chat functions on a stream. This will hopefully deter those who use hate speech on streams, as they not be able to participate further in discussions and could be removed.
For phone verification in particular, this change offers more accountability and would make it far more difficult for those engaging in hate speech to re-offend as gaining access to the same person's stream would require the use of an alternative phone number.
As part of a thread on the matter, Bussey tweeted out a screenshot depicting how the features would likely look on Twitch's UI. As displayed in the tweet below, it appears that content creators would be given complete control over the level of verification options required for users to engage in discussions on their streams.
From the chat verification page, streamers look as if they'll be able to choose whether they would require all, some, or no viewers to verify either an email address or mobile phone number to participate in chat. Additional options allow streamers to make exemptions to the rules for VIPs, mods, and subscribers.
Earlier in the summer, Twitch announced that it was working on a number of tools including account verification improvements and channel-level ban evasion detection as part of its response to the [HASH=4679]#TwitchDoBetter[/HASH] social media campaign, which asked the platform to better protect its marginalized streamers on the site. Following its acknowledgement of the issues, however, the streaming platform has largely been quiet.
While the tools have neither been officially announced by Twitch nor do they have a release date, members of the Twitch community will be hoping that new provisions are put in place to help streamers combat abuse sooner rather than later.
Jared Moore is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.
Continue reading...
According to streaming reporter Zach Bussey (as spotted by Kotaku), the platform is apparently planning to add features that will more easily allow streamers to restrict who can or cannot comment in their chats. This will be done through mobile and email verification.
While Twitch currently bans accounts for breaking its terms of service and engaging in hate speech, it's incredibly easy for offenders to create new accounts and continue spewing out abhorrent slurs and insults. The new system would mean that streamers on the platform could set requirements on their channels that require audience members to verify a phone number or email address before being able to access chat functions on a stream. This will hopefully deter those who use hate speech on streams, as they not be able to participate further in discussions and could be removed.
For phone verification in particular, this change offers more accountability and would make it far more difficult for those engaging in hate speech to re-offend as gaining access to the same person's stream would require the use of an alternative phone number.
As part of a thread on the matter, Bussey tweeted out a screenshot depicting how the features would likely look on Twitch's UI. As displayed in the tweet below, it appears that content creators would be given complete control over the level of verification options required for users to engage in discussions on their streams.
From the chat verification page, streamers look as if they'll be able to choose whether they would require all, some, or no viewers to verify either an email address or mobile phone number to participate in chat. Additional options allow streamers to make exemptions to the rules for VIPs, mods, and subscribers.
Earlier in the summer, Twitch announced that it was working on a number of tools including account verification improvements and channel-level ban evasion detection as part of its response to the [HASH=4679]#TwitchDoBetter[/HASH] social media campaign, which asked the platform to better protect its marginalized streamers on the site. Following its acknowledgement of the issues, however, the streaming platform has largely been quiet.
While the tools have neither been officially announced by Twitch nor do they have a release date, members of the Twitch community will be hoping that new provisions are put in place to help streamers combat abuse sooner rather than later.
Jared Moore is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.
Continue reading...