The players at the 2023 Women’s World Cup have been on the receiving end of online abuse, with over half of the messages being sexual, homophobic, or sexist, according to a shocking report released by FIFA. Approximately the social media accounts of 697 players were monitored where it was found that 152 were targeted with discriminatory, abusive or threatening messages.
Alarmingly, players at the Women’s World Cup were at an increased risk of 29 per cent when it came to experiencing online abuse than those at the men’s tournament in Qatar. To combat this issue, FIFA implemented their Social Media Protection Service (SMPS), which allows players to opt-in for moderation services that can hide abusive messages.
The results were derived from the examination of data generated by FIFA’s Social Media Protection Service (SMPS). The SMPS made use of artificial intelligence software to scrutinise millions of posts for abusive content. The AI tool responsible for this analysis is known as the “Threat Matrix,” introduced as a component of FIFA’s social media protection service the previous year. The Threat Matrix actively monitors user activity across prominent social media platforms, such as X, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and YouTube.
The SMPS data showed that the United States women’s team – which has routinely been targeted for online abuse over the years – was subjected to most abuse during the tournament. FIFA said two players – one from the United States, and one from Argentina, whose identities were not revealed – were targeted above all.
Colombian player Leicy Santos was quoted in the report saying the abuse was harmful to mental health.
“If there is one thing that footballers suffer from the most, apart from losing, it is all the abusive comments – the taunts, the insults,” Santos said.
“Beyond what we do as professional footballers, we are people. Some players are able to put up with the outrageous abuse we receive online, but other players aren’t. It is a very sensitive issue when it comes to mental health.”
FIFA President Gianni Infantino meanwhile vowed no let up in the battle to tackle player abuse.
“There can be no place on social media for those who abuse or threaten anyone, be that in FIFA tournaments or elsewhere,” he said in a statement.
Infantino said that since the SMPS system was first introduced last year, players, teams and officials had been shielded from more than 400,000 abusive comments.
“Discrimination has no place in football and no place in society,” Infantino added.
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