FIFA detects 7 million abusive comments targeting players and staff during World Cup

FIFA says its Social Media Protection Service (SMPS) has identified more than seven million potentially abusive or harmful social media posts during the ongoing FIFA World Cup as part of efforts to protect players, teams and match officials from online harassment.

According to the world football governing body, the number of flagged posts is 14 times higher than during the 2022 World Cup, when about 470,000 offensive posts were detected and removed.

Since the tournament began, the SMPS team has reviewed more than 500,000 messages identified by artificial intelligence as targeting players, coaches and officials. The service has also referred more than 1,000 threats to relevant authorities, including law enforcement agencies.

Overall, FIFA said the system has monitored and moderated more than 53 million social media posts and comments throughout the competition, which concludes on Sunday with the final between Argentina and Spain.

Earlier this month, FIFA revealed that 11% of the offensive content detected during the tournament consisted of racial abuse.

Source: Reuters