World Athletics Implements AI Protection for Athletes Against Cyberbullying

Athletes get AI protection after cyber bullying

MANCHESTER, England -- World Athletics has offered 25 athletes year-round AI protection on their social media platforms after they were targeted by cyber bullies during major recent events, the governing body said on Wednesday. World Athletics unveiled findings of a four-year report analyzing online abuse in the sport using Signify Group's Threat Matrix service. The study monitored online activity during the Olympics in 2021 and 2024, and the 2022 and 2023 world athletics championships. While World Athletics did not detail how the AI protection would operate, it is often used to identify potential security threats and filter out inappropriate content on social media. Among the study's findings, two serious cases were identified and reported to police authorities. Of the more than 350,000 posts captured for analysis during the Paris 2024 Olympics on X, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok, 809 were verified as abusive, 18% of them racist, 13% sexual in nature and 17% sexist. Two athletes received 82% of all the abuse. Jamaican sprinter Junelle Bromfield spoke out in August about the cyber bullying -- including death threats -- she had suffered during the Paris Games over her relationship with Olympic 100 metres champion Noah Lyles. "Athlete welfare is at the very top of our priority list, and we will continue to put measures in place to ensure that athletes can confidently and safely engage with social media platforms," World Athletics President Sebastian Coe said. Three out of the top five abused athletes from the 2023 world championships in Budapest also featured in the top five most targeted athletes at the Paris Olympics. Approximately 240,000 posts were captured for analysis from the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, which were held in 2021 due to the COVID pandemic, with 132 of them verified as abusive, with 63% of them aimed at two female athletes. Social media analysis of the 2023 world championships in Budapest showed 35% of the abuse was racist, a 12-times increase from the world championships a year earlier in Eugene. World Athletics said it was the first time an international federation had conducted such an in-depth analysis. "Many athletes don't know how to react [to] abusive comments online, or measures to protect themselves," said Valerie Adams, Chair of the World Athletics Athletes' Commission. "The more we continue to educate athletes on safeguarding measures, the more athletes will feel comfortable flying the flag for their countries and their sport - on the field of play, and online."

Top athletes offered AI protection on social media platforms to combat cyber bullying

AI technology can identify and filter out inappropriate content World Athletics has offered 25 athletes year-round AI protection on their social media platforms after they were targeted by cyber bullies during major recent events. World Athletics unveiled findings of a four-year report analysing online abuse in the sport using Signify Group's Threat Matrix service. The study monitored online activity during the Olympics in 2021 and 2024, and the 2022 and 2023 world athletics championships. While World Athletics did not detail how the AI protection would operate, it is often used to identify potential security threats and filter out inappropriate content on social media. Among the study's findings, two serious cases were identified and reported to police authorities. Of the more than 350,000 posts captured for analysis during the Paris 2024 Olympics on X, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok, 809 were verified as abusive, 18% of them racist, 13% sexual in nature, and 17% sexist. Two athletes received 82% of all the abuse. Jamaican sprinter Junelle Bromfield spoke out in August about the cyber bullying - including death threats - she had suffered during the Paris Games over her relationship with Olympic 100 metres champion Noah Lyles. "Athlete welfare is at the very top of our priority list, and we will continue to put measures in place to ensure that athletes can confidently and safely engage with social media platforms," World Athletics president Sebastian Coe said. Three out of the top-five abused athletes from the 2023 world championships in Budapest also featured in the top five most targeted athletes at the Paris Olympics. Approximately 240,000 posts were captured for analysis from the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, which were held in 2021 due to the Covid pandemic, with 132 of them verified as abusive, with 63% of them aimed at two female athletes. Social media analysis of the 2023 world championships in Budapest showed 35% of the abuse was racist, a 12-times increase from the world championships a year earlier in Eugene. World Athletics said it was the first time an international federation had conducted such an in-depth analysis. "Many athletes don't know how to react [to] abusive comments online, or measures to protect themselves," said Valerie Adams, chair of the World Athletics Athletes' Commission. "The more we continue to educate athletes on safeguarding measures, the more athletes will feel comfortable flying the flag for their countries and their sport - on the field of play, and online."

World Athletics' social media analysis leads to AI protection for 25 athletes

MANCHESTER, England, Dec 18 (Reuters) - World Athletics has offered 25 athletes year-round AI protection on their social media platforms after they were targeted by cyber bullies during major recent events, the governing body said on Wednesday. World Athletics unveiled findings of a four-year report analysing online abuse in the sport using Signify Group's Threat Matrix service. The study monitored online activity during the Olympics in 2021 and 2024, and the 2022 and 2023 world athletics championships. While World Athletics did not detail how the AI protection would operate, it is often used to identify potential security threats and filter out inappropriate content on social media. Among the study's findings, two serious cases were identified and reported to police authorities. Of the more than 350,000 posts captured for analysis during the Paris 2024 Olympics on X, Instagram, Facebook and TikTok, 809 were verified as abusive, 18% of them racist, 13% sexual in nature, and 17% sexist. Two athletes received 82% of all the abuse. Jamaican sprinter Junelle Bromfield spoke out in August about the cyber bullying -- including death threats -- she had suffered during the Paris Games over her relationship with Olympic 100 metres champion Noah Lyles. "Athlete welfare is at the very top of our priority list, and we will continue to put measures in place to ensure that athletes can confidently and safely engage with social media platforms," World Athletics President Sebastian Coe said. Three out of the top five abused athletes from the 2023 world championships in Budapest also featured in the top five most targeted athletes at the Paris Olympics. Approximately 240,000 posts were captured for analysis from the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, which were held in 2021 due to the COVID pandemic, with 132 of them verified as abusive, with 63% of them aimed at two female athletes. Social media analysis of the 2023 world championships in Budapest showed 35% of the abuse was racist, a 12-times increase from the world championships a year earlier in Eugene. World Athletics said it was the first time an international federation had conducted such an in-depth analysis. "Many athletes don't know how to react (to) abusive comments online, or measures to protect themselves," said Valerie Adams, Chair of the World Athletics Athletes' Commission. "The more we continue to educate athletes on safeguarding measures, the more athletes will feel comfortable flying the flag for their countries and their sport - on the field of play, and online." Reporting by Lori Ewing Editing by Toby Davis Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab Suggested Topics:Athletics

World Athletics uses AI to protect 25 athletes targeted by cyberbullies

World Athletics has offered 25 athletes year-round AI protection on their social media platforms after they were targeted by cyberbullies during recent major events, the governing body said on Wednesday. World Athletics unveiled findings of a four-year report analyzing online abuse in the sport using Signify Group's Threat Matrix service. The study monitored online activity during the Olympics in 2021 and 2024, and the 2022 and 2023 world athletics championships. While World Athletics did not detail how the AI protection would operate, it is often used to identify potential security threats and filter out inappropriate content on social media.

World Athletics offers support to 25 athletes after social media abuse study

World Athletics has offered 25 athletes year-round protection on some of their social media platforms, using artificial intelligence, after they were identified as highly targeted individuals for abuse during major events. The governing body has run a study over the past four years, comprising of two Olympic Games and two World Championships, to analyse online abuse to its athletes. More than 1.4 million posts or comments were analysed, covering 2,438 track, field and road athletes. The study included comments and targeted abuse - where the athletes were tagged - but excluded direct messaging or non-targeted abuse. World Athletics has not identified the 25 athletes and said the support would be expanded next year. "We have invested significant resources into conducting research into online abuse and one of our significant successes from this initiative has been our ability to offer athletes support and providing them with the tools to proactively protect themselves against online abuse," said World Athletics president Lord Coe. "Athlete welfare is at the very top of our priority list, and we will continue to put measures in place to ensure that athletes can confidently and safely engage with social media platforms."