Twitch is boosting its efforts to help protect you from online trolls. The streaming platform has announced Phone-Verified Chat, a new feature that makes it impossible for automated bots to spam a chat en-masse.
Phone-Verified Chat requires viewers to verify their phone number before participating in a chat, thereby making creators inaccessible to throwaway accounts on Twitch. Read on to find out more about Twitch's new anti-harassment tool.
Twitch Launches a New Safety Tool to Curb Harassment
Twitch has launched Phone-Verified Chat to help decrease harassment and abuse on the platform. Available to all creators, this new feature is geared towards helping them have more control over their chat experience, which would decrease abuse from throwaway accounts in a chat.
Twitch made the announcement in a blog post, stating:
Hate and harassment of any kind is unacceptable and prohibited on Twitch, whether it’s an offensive message, malicious follows, or the egregious “hate raid” attacks that have targeted marginalized creators over the past months. Curbing this type of behavior is, and will continue to be, a top priority for us. While we have tools available to help creators protect themselves, we know there will always be more to be done to stop hateful behavior, especially by motivated individuals and groups.
Creators can require some or all users to verify their phone numbers before entering a chat. That way, trolls will no longer be able to engage in "hate raid" attacks while hiding in the shadows of anonymity. Bots would also be unable to enter chats as they are unable to verify their phone number.
Is Phone-Verified Chat an Effective Tool Against Harassment?
While it is commendable that Twitch is taking some steps to help protect its users from abuse, the reality is that trolls always find a way to spam chat with hateful messages.
People can use another phone, a stolen phone, or an unregistered number to enter a chat, thereby bypassing Twitch's safety tool. For this reason, Twitch will have to look into better, more effective measures soon if it is serious about keeping its users safe.
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