Streaming platform Twitch has said it will bring legal action against trolls after a rise in ‘hate raids’ targeting LGBT+ users on the platform.
Taking to Twitter (March 12), the service said: “Over the past 24 hours, bad actors have been coordinating off-Twitch to target women and LGBTQ+ members of our community with spammy and hateful chat messages. Hate has no place on Twitch, and we’ve identified and suspended the Twitch accounts of the individuals participating.”
In s second tweet, the message continued: “Our Safety team is actively reviewing reports and suspending users in violation of our TOS. Our legal team is also involved and actively investigating. We’ve taken legal action against those who’ve harassed our community in the past and continue to take these activities seriously”.
The platform also advises the following to help secure your stream: dial up AutoMod to L3, turn on Followers-Only and Slow Mode, enable email and phone verification, and only allow Raids from friends.
The term ‘hate raids’ refers to large numbers of users or bots infiltrating a stream with harassment, often targeting marginalized groups, by sending abusive, racist, homophobic and transphobic messages.
In September 2021, Twitch announced it was adding new verification tools to fight harassment on the platform, as well as banning 15 million bot accounts, in the hope it might “reduce the number of channels” impacted by abuse.
However reports of hate raids directed at LGBTQ+ streamers has recently seen a sharp increase across Twitch, as a fresh wave of attacks is being mobilised originating from an entirely different platform, according to reports from Dot Esports.
Read: Coming out as a gaymer and the importance of the colourful community
Seemingly, users on Cozy.tv, a conservative streaming platform co-founded by nationalist live-streamer Nick Fuentes, were encouraging these hate raids, with some even restreaming broadcasts of the abuse while mocking the victims.
TWITCH STREAMERS: @thejustryan was hate raided by someone on a different platform called https://t.co/5NcW1hLOe6
— EarthToBre (@EarthToBreLive) March 10, 2022
They spammed hateful homophobic messages, tried to spam in the discord, and streamed Ryan's stream to his viewers while making fun of him. This is disgusting.
Fuentes, who was already barred from Twitch, Reddit and YouTube, called the hate raids “delicious” in an online video, where he can also be seen laughing, reading complaints and calling the attacks “satisfying”.
He has subsequently had his Twitter account suspended following the attacks.
Do you use Twitch and do you find it as safe place to be online? Drop us a note in the comments or on our Instagarm.
Our Safety team is actively reviewing reports and suspending users in violation of our TOS. Our legal team is also involved and actively investigating. We've taken legal action against those who've harassed our community in the past and continue to take these activities seriously
— Twitch Support (@TwitchSupport) March 12, 2022
Please continue to channel ban, report and block any cases of harassment you see, and know that we are working diligently to take action as quickly as possible.
— Twitch Support (@TwitchSupport) March 12, 2022