Twitch is stepping up its efforts to make the platform safer by rolling out Shared Ban Info, a new safety tool that enables streamers to share information with other streamers about users they have banned from their chats.
Shared Ban Info, which the streaming platform announced in a blog post on Thursday, is an update to the Ban Evasion Detection tool it rolled out in November. It operates as a network that helps content creators protect themselves and each other from harassment. The process is a two-way street. A streamer sends a request to another streamer — be it a partner, affiliate, or mutual follower — to share their ban list. Once they accept the request, the streamer who sent the request consents to have their ban info shared with that channel as well. Right now, a streamer can have 30 sharing relationships at most.
Our new Shared Ban Info feature rolling out today helps you easily share banned user information with trusted channels to help keep your community safe.
Learn more: https://t.co/zhvOMnj8Bn pic.twitter.com/wVKcIaVHU0
— Twitch (@Twitch) July 21, 2022
Once the Shared Ban Info connection has been established, the user that has been banned from their channels will automatically have their messages flagged, and they’ll either restrict or monitor that user, depending on their settings. The first chat message the monitored user sends will have a clear red border and give details about the channels they’re banned from, which will help content creators keep watch and restrict them from chatting if need be.
“Nothing’s more important than the safety of streamers and their communities,” Twitch says in the post. “Feeling comfortable expressing yourself is one of the things that makes Twitch, Twitch and that can only happen when people feel safe doing so.”
The Shared Ban Info may benefit marginalized streamers who have been experiencing a rash of hate raids in recent months, especially Black and LGBTQ+ streamers. Each community has asked Twitch to do better to protect them from harassment, and while the Ban Evasion Detection tool helps to keep track of users banned for harassment, the Shared Ban Info feature may help to enhance moderation and safety.
