Eradicating online hate
@Régis Suhner/CoE
In today's digital age, tackling online abuse has emerged as a critical issue, that requires implementation of effective legislation. Testimonies from all sport actors, in particular players and referees, provide valuable insights into the nature of this phenomenon and its profound impact on both their personal and professional lives, as well as those of their families. It is therefore crucial to raise awareness of the detrimental effects of online abuse on the mental well-being and performance of victims. In response to this growing concern, many companies have developed software to monitor, moderate, and combat online abuse, and to protect social channels from hate speech, harassment, and other unlawful content.
Their cutting-edge solutions play a vital role in safeguarding the online experience of sportspeople, fostering a safer and more inclusive digital environment for all users.
In this page you will find examples of the experiences of some relevant companies, alongside a compilation of best practices to combat online abuse
Company’s work/activities related to sport: Among others, Signify works with the following:
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World Rugby (inc. Rugby World Cup 2023)
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European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR)
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Women’s Tennis Association (WTA)
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International Tennis Federation (ITF)
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Wimbledon Tennis Championships
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US Tennis Association and US Open Tennis Championships
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Arsenal FC, Fulham FC and other professional football clubs
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NCAA (US college sports)
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World Athletics
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Kick It Out
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FIFA
Public Studies include:
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Study covering online abuse targeting players in world football and basketball with FIFPRO, NBPA, and WNBPA
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Study for the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA)
Sport(s) targeted: All sports. Currently working in: Football, American Football, Basketball, Rugby, Volleyball, Gymnastics, Tennis, Baseball, Softball, esports, Cricket, Athletics, Ice Hockey, Ski disciplines, Snowboarding. Soon to be expanding to many more sports in Q2&3 of 2024.
Target group(s) protected: Athletes, players and their families; entourage; match officials (referees, game officials, umpires, stweards etc and their families); coaches and managers; sport organisations' staff; leagues and tours; sports events (including major events).
Approach/ Type of technology used for online abuse analysis:
Ethical data science company.
Threat Matrix service delivers AI-powered real-time monitoring (at scale), identification and investigation of online abuse and threats targeting sporting participants.
Multi-platform monitoring and OSINT investigations (X/Twitter, Instagram, Tik Tok, You Tube, Twitch plus others)
Algorithms do not just identify abuse but also fixated threat.
Emoji and image identification and analysis.
Monitoring and investigations in 35+ languages
Proactive service focused on understanding the triggers and tactics of abusers, providing deep insights and understanding of the issues for sports, and empowering sports organizations to take action against perpetrators on behalf of athletes and other participants, including:
- reporting of abusive and threatening content and accounts to platforms to ensure appropriate action is taken
- Expedite abusive content take-down/sanctioning of account holders - where platform community guidelines are evidenced to have been broken
- Proven ability to unmask the worst abusers who hide behind ‘anonymous’ accounts with the most serious cases reported to relevant law enforcement agencies for assessment and action.
Signify also have a unique Direct Message (DM) risk management service that also uses AI to identify and investigate abusive and threatening messages sent via private DM to athletes, match officials and other participants.
Data statistics required for the analysis: Open source public social media data
Achievements and outcomes:
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Examples of our work and results: https://www.signify.ai/blog-feed/ncaa-launches-initiative-with-signify |
Recommendations for the project:For the Council of Europe and Signify to collaborate further on the issue of online abuse, including bespoke projects and research to guide policy.
Partnership: Signify has worked with FIFPRO, NBPA, WNBPA, FIFA, World Rugby, NCAA, World Athletics, Arsenal Football Club, Fulham Football Club, European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR), Kick It Out, Women’s Tennis Association (WTA), International Tennis Federation (ITF), United States Tennis Association, Wimbledon Tennis Championships, Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA), plus many others.
Further information:
https://www.signify.ai/insights
Contact person:
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Jake Marsh, Head of Sport |
Online hate speech
