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