Twitch Responds to #TwitchDoBetter Movement, Says It Will Do Better

In a response to an outcry from marginalized streamers who say they’ve develop into the targets of harassment and hate speech on the platform, stay streaming large Twitch mentioned Wednesday that it was rolling out new protections for its most weak customers, efficient instantly.

“We’ve seen a lot of conversation about botting, hate raids, and other forms of harassment targeting marginalized creators,” Twitch writes. “You’re asking us to do better, and we know we need to do more to address these issues. That includes an open and ongoing dialogue about creator safety.”

As a part of its efforts to clamp down on rampant abuse, Twitch mentioned it had recognized “a vulnerability in our proactive filters, and have rolled out an update to close this gap and better detect hate speech in chat.” It additionally claimed that extra security options are coming within the weeks forward, together with a tighter account verification course of and channel-level ban evasion detection instruments.

In the wake of these so-called “hate raids,” during which bad-faith customers make use of bots and pretend accounts to bathe particular streamers with abuse, Twitch customers had mobilized below the hashtag #TwitchDoBetter to make clear the platform’s ongoing harassment issues. The hashtag was created by the Twitch streamer RekItRaven—who’s Black and makes use of they/them pronouns—after their account was overrun on August 6 by customers commenting “This channel now belongs to the KKK.”

Since then, customers have spoken out in drive to sentence the identity-based harassment they are saying is all however inevitable for marginalized streamers on Twitch.

“Every marginalized identity creator I know has at least one story, baseline, even if they don’t stream regularly,” a Twitch person named Vanessa, who’s black, instructed the Washington Post. “The thing that’s most terrifying is that the hate is aimed at all of us equally. Size, frequency, status — none of it matters. They look out for the marginalized identity and go to work.”

Twitch has struggled to reign in harassment and hate speech on its platform lately, usually responding shortly slightly than thoughtfully to points once they crop up in a manner that fails to supply sustainable protections to weak customers. In late 2020, for instance, the platform provided a piecemeal resolution to harassment that particularly focused customers’ sexual practices by banning phrases like “simp,” “incel,” and “virgin” on the platform so long as they had been getting used as insults.

On Wednesday, Twitch thanked customers for sharing “these difficult experiences,” and mentioned that it will proceed to work to handle harassment on its platform.

“Our work is never done, and your input is essential as we try to build a safer Twitch,” Twitch wrote in a tweet. “We’ll be reaching out to community members to learn more about their experiences, and encourage you to share feedback via UserVoice.”