FIFA, the international soccer governing body, announced on Sunday that a set of social media tools will be provided to all teams participating in the 2023 Women’s World Cup, aiming to protect players from online abuse. Developed in collaboration with FIFPRO, the players’ union, the Social Media Protection Service (SMPS) monitors and moderates hate speech on social media platforms, shielding players from harmful content.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino emphasized that discrimination is a criminal act and expressed the organization’s commitment to identifying perpetrators through this tool and reporting them to the authorities for appropriate punishment.
For the ongoing Women’s World Cup held in Australia and New Zealand from July 20 to August 20, several teams have already agreed to implement the moderation aspect of the service immediately. This will automatically limit the visibility of online abuse directed at players, according to FIFA. The tool was previously made available to players during the 2022 men’s World Cup in Qatar. In a report released by FIFA, it was highlighted that the quarter-final match between England and France witnessed a significant surge in abuse.
The SMPS extensively analyzed over 20 million posts and comments on social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, and YouTube throughout the men’s tournament in Qatar. Utilizing advanced artificial intelligence, the tool identified abusive comments, and with the involvement of two layers of human analysis, nearly 20,000 social media posts were found to be abusive, discriminatory, or threatening.
