I am getting this also, i dont want to add a phone number. I believe this is just a malicious way to get people to add a phone number to there accounts (Forcing people to make the decision to add a phone number willingly), theres also security risks associated with doing this, aside from security risks this could also be a possible legal issue for twitch, and to perhapse reinforce that possible legal issue; viewers are not required to add a phone number and no streamer should have the right to ask for your phone number which means twitch should have no business adding a 'feature' requiring viewers to verify their phone numbers to participate in a streamers chat...

As of about a month ago, I am also effectively locked out with the same issue. I am Twitch affiliate, so if this is an anti-bot measure, it's not considering affiliate status for some reason. twitch.tv/strager

Your message got my hopes up, unfortunately I'm still locked out. Here's hoping that changes soon.

I saw @Lucaval's message and refreshed the stream I was watching. Now I can access chat again as well. Thank you!

Update (17 June 2022) - It looks like i can chat properly again. I hope this won't happen again! Thanks.

I can confirm that i am able to chat in channels where i am either Mod or VIP, but not anywhere else.
Probably those roles skip the Phone-verification.

It has been two weeks since Twitch locked my account out of chat and told me they require a mobile number to unlock it.

I was asked to submit a ticket and the first response I received said
"Please note that Twitch Support is unable to bypass the need for phone verification on your behalf. If phone verification is enabled by the creator and you are not exempt, you must complete the verification in order to chat."

I had already confirmed with the streamers that they did not change any verification settings. Even if they had, it would mean that a) every streamer on the platform decided to do it on the same day and b) the setting either did not affect every viewer, or the other viewers were lying about not having added a phone number.

I had some of this information in the original ticket, but I replied making note of it again.

The next reply said they would investigate further. After a week I asked for an update and was told no update was available.

After another week I asked again and got a reply that was almost identical to the first one. This time, though, they did not try to blame it directly on the streamers. It was mentioned that streamers have the option to turn phone verification on, but that
"We want to keep chat safe and fun for everyone! So sometimes we require users to verify their account with a mobile phone number before participating in chat. You'll only need to complete this verification once to chat across Twitch."

So, the only conclusion I can draw is that Twitch is selecting random accounts and requiring mobile verification. Possibly as a test for requiring it of ALL accounts at some point.
For now, though, their excuse makes no sense. Randomly selecting accounts does nothing to "keep chat safe and fun for everyone". Anyone who was really using chat to spam or break rules can just create a new account and *poof* restrictions are gone.

The only effects this random requirement has are
--harvest more personal data from some users
--effectively steal subscription active time until the user gives in verifies a number
--lock users without a mobile phone out of chat with no options

I know some people don't mind giving Twitch a phone number. We are so used to companies collecting whatever information they want anymore. But I think we should all be a little concerned about where this is going. Why does Twitch want the additional data when it does nothing to "keep chat safe and fun for everyone"? The only explanations right now are as a test to see the impact if they require it of all accounts or because they monetize our data and they can get more value from accounts with phone numbers attached.

Ive been affected by this for over two weeks now, cant write in any chat except the ones I have mod or VIP in.

Completely ruins the whole Twitch experience for me.
My account is almost 10 years old soon I have never been banned in any channel or have done anything bad, Im paying multiple subs AND Turbo for years and now cant even use any of my Turbo benefits without giving Twitch my mobile number? Almost seems like scam to me to be honest as there was no notification or anything this was about to get implemented.

And after over two weeks, despite multiple reports of this via multiple platforms like Twitter, partner tickets and more there still hasnt been ANY official statement made by Twitch explaining any of this except some fishy comments in replies to tickets that its for "security" reasons...yeah sure helps security punishing year long harmless supporters, while trolls can just create new accounts.

If this wont get fixed soon or we at least get some statement I am really starting to consider cancelling subs and the Turbo subscription and support the streamers via alternate options.

So yeah here is your feedback you asked for on the Uservoice Forums, but according to how this mess has been treated so far I doubt anyone is ever paying any attention to this at all.

I've been locked out for weeks, no one seems to care at Twitch. I've tried going through support, they told me to come here, but there's like 8 different posts about the same thing worded a little different.

The majority of people having the issue are reporting it in the Feature Request post. Others who I know had the issue, just verified with their phone.

Not everyone owns a cellphone. I don't even want to own one, and be tied down to more payments. I have a landline, that's all I need. I shouldn't need to verify after years on here, with numerous subscriptions, and Prime, plus a ton of other services linked to the account. It's ridiculous. Every channel says I need to verify, even the ones w/o the setting turned on.

I've tried different browsers, computers, OS, etc. Nothing changes. It's obviously a flag on the account. You can tell, because when the page loads up you can see it processing above the chat box, then the banner appears telling me I need to verify.

Same here. Effectively banned from twitch for not having a mobile phone number to share.

I can confirm I am also affected by this same bug.