Abusive Social Media Posts Targeted at Players, Coaches, and Officials During World Cup
Almost 20,000 abusive social media posts were aimed at players, coaches and officials during last year’s World Cup, according to a report from FIFA. Of the 20 million posts scanned by moderation software developed by FIFA and players’ union Fifpro, 286,895 were hidden from public view. The biggest spike in abuse came after England’s quarter-final loss to France, when Harry Kane missed a late penalty.
FIFA and Fifpro Take Action
“The figures and findings in this report do not come as a surprise, but they are still massively concerning,” said Fifpro president David Aganzo. “They represent a strong reminder for everyone involved in our game, and it must lead to providing preventative measures and solutions for players who are increasingly facing this type of abuse.”
Last year, FIFA and Fifpro partnered to implement a plan to protect players, coaches and officials from social media abuse during international tournaments. They established a package of tools called the Social Media Protection Service (SMPS), which flagged posts and comments. 19,636 of these posts during the World Cup in Qatar were confirmed by the service provider as abusive, discriminatory or threatening. These were reported to the relevant social media platforms and, in many cases, were removed.
Types of Abuse Detected
Of the detected abusive messages, sexism made up 13.47%, homophobia 12.16% and racism 10.70%. 38% of identifiable abuse came from accounts based in Europe and 36% from South America. Twitter had the highest number of abusive messages reported to it with 13,105, followed by Instagram (5,370), Facebook (979), YouTube (113) and TikTok (69). France suffered the highest number of abusive messages when grouped by country, with Brazil the second most and England third.
Whistleblowing System Established
The Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, which starts on 20 July, will also feature SMPS support and FIFA has a confidential web-based whistleblowing system to allow people to report abuse. “FIFA has a duty to protect football, in particular the players and the fans,” said FIFA president Gianni Infantino. “However, FIFA also expects all authorities and social media platforms to also accept their responsibilities and support us in the fight against all forms of discrimination.”
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Conclusion
The report released by FIFA is a stark reminder that social media abuse is a serious problem in the world of football. FIFA and Fifpro have taken steps to protect players, coaches and officials from this type of abuse by developing moderation software and establishing a whistleblowing system. It is now up to authorities and social media platforms to accept their responsibility and help FIFA in its fight against discrimination.