Twitch is increasingly establishing itself as the essential online video platform, but the growing number of users also increases the risk of toxicity, all the more so through live chat. The platform owned by Amazon makes it a point of honor to protect streamers and today confirms its objective by offering the Shield mode.
With just one click, streamers will be able to enable pre-settable security and moderation settings. A way to quickly and effectively protect yourself from unexpected hateful messages, which can occur after a raid – when a streamer hosts another’s live broadcast.
Shield mode is customizable both by the streamer themselves, but also by their moderators. Available in security settings, it can be activated with a click or by entering the commands /shield and /shieldoff in the chat. Disabling the mode then restores the security settings. In addition to the speed of execution, this shield offers new protection tools.
Words and small new banished
First, a bulk ban can be done for all people using a keyword or type phrase in the chat. It is then possible to enter the terms and expressions in order to ban all users who have recently used them. If members of the streamer’s community find themselves inadvertently banned via this command, it is possible to consult the list in order to unban the ban.
Conversely, if a person has gone too far, it is also possible to report it to Twitch directly from the ban list. Banned keywords will be reset each session of Shield Mode so that the public “does not accidentally get affected by old terms that are no longer used maliciously”can we read in the press release from Twitch.
Shield mode also instantly bans first-time chat users. At first glance, this feature may seem harsh, but it was put in place to guard against the harassment that can occur during a raid. It happens that streamers host the video feed of some of their colleagues, often to highlight the content. Alas, cases of mass harassment have already been observed because of this feature of Twitch, and banning new users therefore allows you to quickly protect yourself from malicious raids.
Twitch also exposes other contexts for using Shield Mode: “If you are preparing a stream on a sensitive topic, if you participate in a campaign that puts you in the spotlight, or if your channel is featured on the homepage.” Shield mode can become an effective moderation tool, and Twitch says it always works on videographer safety and moderation.