## **The Need For Safety** There are plenty of reasons to increase the security on your Twitch channel, but the most glaring reason is the recent influx of hate raids in which bad actors are creating a massive amount of accounts in order to spam hateful messages in channels that are largely targeted at marginalized groups. For a period, the only recourse streamers had was to use [third party tools](https://www.vice.com/en/article/88n3yk/stophatebot-helps-twitch-streamers-block-slurs) in order to help combat against this behavior, but Twitch itself has recently integrated some additional verification features that help as well. ## **Enabling Verification** The newest safety features implemented by Twitch allow you to enforce **email address verification** and **phone number verification** for specified accounts. To get started, head to your [Twitch dashboard](https://dashboard.twitch.tv) and navigate to the *Moderation* subsection of *Settings* ![Settings](https://i.imgur.com/jojLAvV.png) From there, scroll down to the **Channel Privileges** area -- the first section you'll see is the **Chat Verification** options as shown below. ![Chat Verification](https://i.imgur.com/7LQBbgN.png) The most important thing to know is that right off the bat if you don't feel like setting specific values here or don't know what to do, you can click the button that says **Set All to Twitch minimum recommendation** which will enforce the following: * All chatters must have a verified email * Chatters with an account newer than 1 week must have a verified phone number If you want the maximum security, it's best to enforce both verifications for **all chatters**. If you want a balanced middle ground, try these: **Email Verification** * All chatters must have a verified email **Phone Verification** * First-time chatters in my channel must have a verified phone number * Chatters without a verified phone number must have accounts older than *2 weeks* You can also choose to make Subscribers, VIPs, and Moderators exempt from your verification settings. And that's it! Now you have an extra layer of protection against malicious users! Additionally, it's recommended that you take a look at some other built-in settings such as **AutoMod**, **blocked terms**, and **Non-Mod Chat Delay** for help against the more traditional types of misbehavior.