What is Shield Mode on Twitch? Everything you need to know about the platform's new safety feature

Twitch has implemented a brand new panic button-style feature called Shield Mode, and it is being touted as the best anti-harassment tool to grace the streaming platform.

On paper, it is a combination of pre-existing moderation tools packed with some new features aimed at allowing streamers and moderators to have more control over the chat. Several modes and custom presets will allow them to change security settings with one click. Things like emote-only or sub-only mode, along with the new no first-time chatters, are only some of the new features to come to Twitch.

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Twitch's Shield Mode: Functionality and new features explored

Bot spam and targeted harassment, especially towards minority streamers, have been plaguing Twitch for a long time. With Shield Mode, the goal is to allow creators to ban certain words and help protect themselves from harassment as swiftly as possible.

The mode streamlines moderation by bringing together all the old features in a neat new interface, and it also introduces some new features. The mode can be found on the channel page, Stream Manager, or Mod View, and it can be activated or deactivated at wish. Mods can even use commands in chat ('/shield' and '/shieldoff') to turn it on or off.

The new features added to the mode include the ability to bulk ban and the function to ban people who have never used the chat in the stream before. It will also make it easy to ban certain words in the 'Terms and Phrases' tab, which will automatically suspend or ban users who use those terms. A handy review list will also be available to moderators and streamers so that they can easily unban chatters later on.

The restrictions that were activated during a previous Shield Mode session will not carry over to the next one, but mods can still use the preset future to turn on any settings they want to use frequently. Modes such as phone verification are expected to go a long way in curbing hate raids and targeted bot attacks, which affect a lot of creators on Twitch.

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Reactions

The feature has received largely positive reviews from users as many took to Twitter to post their thoughts and opinions. Here are a few reactions:

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Twitch's Shield Mode has been made available to streamers as of today, and the Amazon-owned platform hopes that the feature will help content creators avoid online harassment as they stream. Twitch has also promised more preventative measures to address the issues that streamers face, meaning users can expect more updates soon.