Twitch won't let banned users view your streams anymore

Twitch is introducing a new feature that will let streamers block banned users from watching their streams. According to Senior Product Manager Trevor Fisher, streamers can opt to prevent their banned chatters from viewing their stream. He revealed this on Twitch’s Patch Notes podcast. The feature will be available in the next few weeks.

He also explained how the feature would work: “If you ban somebody and they’re currently watching, then the stream playback will be interrupted for them so that they immediately lose the ability to view the stream. And then if you go offline, you stream again, they won’t be able to watch your subsequent streams either until you choose to un-ban them.” This change would apply whether the streamer or a moderator banned the user.

However, the feature has a significant limitation: it only works for logged-in users. Anyone who watches a stream without logging in can still see it. Twitch is not blocking IP addresses yet, which creates a notable exception.

Fisher admitted that this is a minor change that only partially solves some of the moderation problems on the platform, such as the accusations of sexual abuse and misconduct against some Twitch streamers. He mentioned that Twitch has also implemented other measures to improve its moderation, such as adding a one-button anti-harassment tool, enhancing its reporting and appeals process, rewriting its community policies, and taking a tougher stance against deepfakes. 

Source | Via