Twitch adds ways for users to filter unwanted content

Twitch has updated its site to allow users to filter out content they do no wish to see.

Eurogamer reports the new option builds on the Content Classification Labels that were introduced last year, allowing streamers to tag their broadcasts for the inclusion of sexualised content, drug use, gambling, and more.

The changes to Twitch means that, depending on users' preferences, any streams tagged with this labels will be filtered out and hidden.

Alternatively, users can set it to blur the thumbnails of streams that feature sexual content.

In a blog post detailing the changes, Twitch's VP of community products Jeremy Forrester wrote: "Our goal with these changes is to make it easier for you to have a Twitch experience that’s right for you and to choose the communities that you want to be a part of. We recognize that everyone’s viewing preferences differ, and you should have more control over what you encounter when you come to Twitch."

Forrester also emphasised that streamers must label their content correctly, or Twitch will add the appropriate labels and make them irremovable.

The changes come after years of criticism around the content found on Twitch. The site has frequently been compelled to update its guidelines on what constitutes 'sexual content', although not without inconsistencies.

Twitch streamers broadcasting from lingerie to hot tubs became so popular, the site even added it as a category when expanding its tags system in 2021. Earlier this year, there was even a trend where streamers use buttocks, groins and breasts as green screens.

Gambling has also been an issue for Twitch, prompting further changes to the site's policies in 2022.