Protect streamers by preventing any access to channel for banned users
This is not to take away from the improvements that have already been made, and are being implemented. The work that is being done is greatly appreciated.
However, further change is needed to better protect streamers for banned users. Merely preventing chatting is not enough to deter harassment, stalking, or intrusive bot behavior.
Most people are aware that measures often can be circumvented, that is not an excuse for the lack of protection that currently exists.
Streamers need a way to completely cut off a user from content. I believe the proposed measures are reasonable, and will also provide protection against abuse as well as preventing intrusive bots from squatting in channels without permission.
The proposed changes are:
1. A banned user is prevented from connecting to a channel's chat completely, which means their name does not appear in the list of viewers.
2. A banned user is prevented from viewing the stream itself, on site or using other means.
3. A banned user is blocked from subscribing and following, and will be automatically unsubscribed and / or unfollowed.
4. A banned user is prevented from viewing any other channel information and content, including the streamer's panels, VODs, clips, followers, and followed accounts.
5. A streamer must be able to toggle an option to treat logged out viewers similarly as a banned user, preventing any access until they log in.
Additionally, to prevent excessive account creation, the following measures should be implemented as well:
6. Accounts need to be verified by e-mail.
7. Limit the amount of accounts per e-mail, to 1 or at a maximum 2.
8. Limit the amount of accounts that can be created from a single IP address per day.
Thank you for your consideration.

We are happy to announce that we have released an update that addresses some of these points.
Channel Banned users will no longer be able to view the chat, and they will also be removed from your Chat list. There is an issue that has caused us to pause this temporarily, but we expect a fix to be out very soon – stay tuned to the Twitter thread below for the update.
Additionally, if you Block a user, they will not be able to subscribe or follow, and Blocking them will automatically unfollow them.
https://twitter.com/TwitchSupport/status/1243643979897417730?s=20How to Block a user: https://help.twitch.tv/s/article/how-to-manage-harassment-in-chat#BlockWhispersandMessagesfromStrangers
I will leave this topic open for your points about being unable to fully view the remaining content of a channel, and account creation.
-
AdmiralNakrul commented
I think one of the most secure and possibly the least like by many people, (myself as well) is Phone number requirement authentication. Discord has this, its extreme. Yet, the way things are now. It's the most secure way, (so long as they can determine the number is real from actual network, which there is a way as many Social networks use this) I dislike it because we shouldn't have needed it. However because the abilities of stalkers and harassers are able to hide behind ip filters, proxies, VPN , email verifications, ect. This is one of the few ways they can bypass easily. Its cost money to get a number ( a real one) and of course it is often tied to their real name. This is the best (i believe) option to handle these issues. As it will allow Streams to take action in actually stopping them from being abused in such a way. I have it activated in my discord because , i know those who have their number verified are less likely to be trolls( we do have some but they are fun hah) So, i have no idea how others feel about this. but ****, we gotta stop these people. they are too comfortable in hurting others.
-
oMesmerizing commented
Due to an extremely large amount of streamers getting trolled to the point they no longer want to stream, I feel that if someone gets banned/blocked from a streamers chat then they should no longer be able to even view the stream. When the troll types the streamers name into the search bar then that streamers name should not appear, just like how it works on any other site. Allowing the troll to view the stream can still cause stream sniping and other things that gives the troll the incentive to troll and harass even further. Im speaking from experience here. Even though ive had to ban hundreds of accounts I still get the troll making alt accounts and having their username being a family members name or my address. This needs to be sorted asap.
-
halid_talic commented
this is what twitch rly needs.. an ip ban on the trolls..!
-
dark_art commented
This could help with the bots who just sit in everyone's chat list and collect our data.
-
Fazko26 commented
Que el comando /ban los expulse del chat y el directo, porque los streamsnipers por más que le den ban pueden seguir viendo el directo y si lo bloqueamos tiene que ser echado del stream para que no siga snipeando
-
Cobie commented
Absolutely agree. The idea that a harasser can continue to watch a streamer is horrendous. You might say, "Hey, don't stream if you're being stalked," but for a lot of people, twitch is a prospective career and often a source of income - it's unconsciable to put the onus on the streamer to stop streaming due to harassment, and will only force streamers to leave the platform.
A banned user can still watch a streamer and fuel their obsession or later use onstream info against a streamer . A banned user can still see the chat and chat list, and harass viewers of a streamer until people cease to watch the streamer. A banned user can still sub or follow, causing their name and their presence to invade the stream and the alerts, haunting and harrowing the streamer who banned them for a reason.
We need to take protection of streamers seriously. Protect their image, their chat, and their mental health. -
CackleTV commented
you couldnt ban someone like that if you ip blocked them... you simply can't stop it.. you stop the interaction, and that is that... end of story.. i can't imagine how many issues would arise from "oops" bans when clicked... imagine banning a subscriber on accident and it wipes them out.. lol.... can i stop you from watching CNN news? We should, its brainwash material, but we cant.. twitch is no different other than the interaction which has been banned...
-
YoPeet commented
Agreed, here’s some streamers that spread there bots through chats and adding this feature will prevent that from happening.
LAF21
CycleMotion
NorkDorf -
mellow commented
Please Twitch make this happen! I feel there is little protection for streamers. Yes there is no stopping negative comments once in a while but constant harassment is real and something that has made me not even want to stream anymore. I am considering making a new account because I have people that are banned but still follow me just to see when I go live. Better measures need to be implemented to protect streamers too, not just the viewers.
-
blank commented
Please make this happen, Twitch... Especially the automatic unfollow and preventing them to view the stream. In what world would ANYONE want a banned user following or having access to my channel?!
@Mysidia
I don't see how this is unreasonable. If you don't want to get banned from the stream, don't break the rules. You make it seem like Twitch admins actually respond to serious harassment violation but I can tell you, they do NOT carry out investigations or suspend the user **all the time**. If Twitch wants us to be responsible to moderate our chat, we need something more than a measly ban that does not even force the **banned user** to unfollow us or prevent them from viewing the stream. This is literally an invitation for them to stir more trouble. -
Mysidia commented
The actions such as blocking a user completely from even Read-Only access to stream and chat are extremely severe and unreasonable for mere chat rule-breaking --- Twitch broadcasts are supposed to be public content. I believe these options should only be available to Twitch site admin staff, and only in response to a serious Twitch ToS violation such as harassment has been reported that would warrant suspending the user from all access.
-
NIJAN MANUL commented
seriously guys, you always "protect" viewers from streamers, but never think about tape drives! they write me so much shit on twitch and no one thinks about my feelings! and even after the viewer's ban, they continue to write me private messages or create new accounts, and even a confirmed kidney does not help! it is necessary at the block to completely deny access to those people who are not pleasant to the streamer!
-
Anonymous commented
I was just thinking about this yesterday.
I've been harassed for months by a single person that just doesn't get the hint. Tried adding me as a friend; declined, muting/blocking doesn't work because every time I turn around, there they are in the same places I am.Just to irk me even more they modded me in their channel (thankfully /unmod is a thing now) along with following me on Twitch and other socials. They just wont go away. There's only so much blocking/muting one can do before it starts to make you feel extremely uncomfortable.
Also sadly reporting has done nothing.I fully back this idea.
The harassment needs to stop & I think of this as the 'I don't exist to you' option. -
Rachel Kelly commented
Yes please, I worry about increased notoriety and have seen friends harassed
-
Tsukiyomaru Zero commented
Also a better idea is to allow us to block who we don't want to see or be sent to.
-
Anonymous commented
To ActiveB1t, the reason this is anonymous is because (as folks on the internet tend to do) is to label or malign people who would speak counter. Am I saying something 'negative'? No. I'm pointing out the reality of the situation. Yes, I realize this is due to harassment, but as a company their reach can only go so far.
IP addresses are dynamic and can be shared by entire buildings meaning perfectly innocent users can get passed bad IPs. There are free services that offer unlimited disposable email addresses. I'm assuming that said person tweets when they go live or that they have a regular schedule for streaming? A person doesn't even need to be logged in to watch. I see point 5 you've made, but again, you're asking Twitch to enable private streaming for logged in users only; YT doesn't even go that far. They allow for a test 'Private' stream, a 'Public' stream, and an 'Unlisted' stream whereby only those with the link can view the stream (account or no account).
-
lexasaurus commented
@FriedPickles
The limited amount of accounts per email is actually an extremely good idea. Yes, people could continue to go make new emails to make new accounts with. But setting up a new email, then making a new account and verifying the new email would take much longer than using the one email to make infinite accounts. Since the process would be significantly harder, I would probably deter a lot of people from trolling.
-
FriedPickles commented
The limit amount of accounts per emal is pretty not good because they can make more emails and keep make more acc. but the rest is good
-
lexasaurus commented
Please, PLEASE DO THIS. Twitch you need to do SOMETHING. I am constantly harassed by banned people coming back with new accounts. I once had someone come back with upwards of 12 different accounts over the course of an hour. That's at least one new account every 5 minutes. It was disruptive and upsetting, to say the least. I have had countless other issues with banned users that I wont get in to. But needless to say, I support this whole heartedly.
-
ActiveB1t commented
To anonymous, if you've actually read the proposal you'll have noticed these are measures to help protect streamers from stalkers and harassment, which is made easier by the current state of the platform which allows near anonymous accounts.
Other problems, however valid, have no bearing on this.
How coincidental is it the only negative comment (so far) has been made by someone anonymous?