Twitch Introduces New Tool To Track Down Ban Evaders

Twitch, in an attempt to curb the apparent rise of ban evaders on the platform, is introducing a new feature called Suspicious User Detection.

According to Dexerto, the feature is designed to help detect any Twitch users (or even actual Twitch streamers) engaging in so-called suspicious activities like ban evasion.

Here is the official announcement from Twitch, via its official Twitter profile:

As per the announcement, the new feature takes advantage of machine learning technology to help users identify and restrict potential ban evaders from engaging (i.e. chatting users up) before they end up disrupting the stream.

Twitch reportedly took months to complete and implement the feature, which is said to have been inspired by community feedback.

According to The Verge, the Suspicious User Detection tool can identify suspected individuals by analyzing their behavior and account characteristics. Afterwards, the tool will then cross-reference this data against those from banned accounts.

Furthermore, any messages from potential evaders will be filtered out and not sent to chat. Only Twitch streamers and their mods can see these messages. They can either choose to closely monitor a potential evader when they need to.

These suspicious individuals' messages still appear in chat, but that's where mods and streamers can come in to block the said messages in the stream chat.

Twitch says that they're turning the tool on by default, but they're also giving streamers the option to turn it on or off whenever they want.

The tool is being rolled out as of this moment, but users can likely expect a lot of adjustments and updates over time. If for some reason you want to turn it off, Twitch has a guide on how to do that in an official blog.

Indecent Behavior On Twitch Streams

For the past few years, there have been increasing incidents of indecent user behavior during streams. One of these behaviors included the so-called "hate raiding," which caused several Twitch streamers to boycott earlier this year.

"Hate raiding" as a practice allegedly involved spamming various types of hate speech, including racial, homophobic, and religious slurs.

It might make sense to Twitch that the users engaging in these disruptive behaviors could be ban-evading suspects, because such negative actions are almost always deserving of getting banned from the platform--or specific Twitch streamers' channels.

Will It Affect Higher-Ups?

During the infamous Twitch hack of 2021, a lot of data not meant for the eyes of the public saw the light of day--famous streamers' earnings, people's login credentials, and even a controversial alleged "no ban list."

On this "no ban list," Twitch reportedly includes several of the platform's most famous content creators like Tyler "loltyler1" Steinkamp and rice gum. Any infractions that these streamers incur, according to the list, won't get them banned without escalating the issues first to specific moderators on the platform.

Whether the Suspicious User Detection tool will apply to some high-profile banned streamers, however, remains to be seen.

This article is owned by Tech Times

Written by RJ Pierce