In most internet dwellings, you can block or ban a user to keep them from seeing and interacting with your content.
But that wasn’t the case on Twitch–until now.
Historically, if a Twitch streamer banned a user, that ban had some pretty significant effects. The ban-ee would no longer be able to participate in the streamer’s chat, DM the streamer, or buy gift subs for the streamer’s channel. They’d also be removed from the channel’s followers and wouldn’t be able to follow the channel again in the future. And, if the streamer was hanging out in another creator’s chat, the banned user’s messages would still be filtered out for them.
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Even with all these measures, though, nothing prevented banned users from just…continuing to watch the streamer’s channel.
That’s now changing. As you can see in the screenshot below from streamer Lowco, Twitch has added a toggle that will allow creators to keep banned users from watching their streams.
HUGE TWITCH UPDATE: When you block or ban someone, they’ll no longer be able to view your stream! pic.twitter.com/hS1LOLrbqF
— Lowco 🏖️ (@LowcoTV) August 16, 2023
The toggle is currently only available to some streamers, but per GameSpot, it should be available to everyone in September.
If your immediate thought is, Wait, can’t a banned user just log out and keep watching? unfortunately the answer–at least for now–is yes. Lowco said Twitch has heard concerns from streamers who want bans to remain in place when users are logged out. Twitch said it will “consider it and [is] planning on expanding on this functionality,” Lowco tweeted.
Another limit of the feature is that it doesn’t prevent banned users from watching a streamer’s clips or VODs, but apparently Twitch plans to address that as well.
Twitch told Kotaku the ban feature works instantaneously, so if a user is banned mid-stream, the broadcast will cut out for them.
It added that the introduction of this feature is “a direct result of input from our community,” and clarified that “[t]his is by no means an end-state product. We’ll continue to gather feedback and make improvements where needed.”
So, if you’re a streamer and this feature is something you want and/or something you want to see improved, make sure you’re telling Twitch what you think.
