But more safety measures are still needed.
At TwitchCon Amsterdam, streaming giantTwitchannounced a number of new safety features coming soon to the platform.
Both of these features are in response to themass wave of hate raids that affected marginalised streamers last year.
Raid controls will be more easily accessible while live.
They can also be turned off completely.
“So I like it because it steps the verification process.
I don’t know if it will stop hate raids because when people are determined, they’re determined.
But I do think it will be a big help.”
“This is something that should’ve come a long time ago,” says CoderGirlChan.
“I’m happy it’s here though, I’m glad we can moderate the raids coming in.
As someone in the LGBT+ community and the Black community we’re the hardest hit by this.
So the fact we can control who’s coming in and protect our community, that’s huge.
So if I can control it, that’s super important for me to stay safe.”
LukeBoogie agrees, though, that the timing is late.
“What’s taken so long?
You’re shouting out into the void and you never know if Twitch is listening.
We’ve finally got something but it’s taken too long to get there,” they say.
CafeEla is also positive about the change, particularly the control it gives to streamers.
However, there is still more to be done to protect streamers on Twitch from harassment.
“This definitely does not fix the issue at the root of these raids,” says CafeEla.
There has to be a clear stance towards harassment, and pro BIPOC and other marginalised creator demographics.
We need to continue to uplift and support them, and be loud about these issues.
“Banned chatters can still watch,” she says.
CoderGirlChan would like to see Twitch do more to weed out newly created bot accounts.
“The biggest thing is those new accounts.
They should have a certain duration before they’re able to even chat.
you oughta prove you’re a person at the end of the day.”
Our moderation team, they have the tools but they can only do so much," she says.
