Subscribe
Follow Us
A recent FIFA report showed that over 150 players were subjected to targeted abuse on social media during the 2023 Women’s World Cup. Notably, the USWNT experienced a significantly higher volume of discriminatory or threatening posts compared to other competing nations, receiving more than double the abusive comments.
The report, a collaborative effort between FIFA and the global players' association FIFPRO, utilized the FIFA Social Media Protection Service (SMPS) to analyze over 5.1 million social media posts and comments in 35 languages. The platforms scrutinized included Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube. Of the total, 102,511 posts were flagged for containing abusive content, via Mark Ogden of ESPN.
Two players, one from the U.S. and Argentina, were subjected to the most severe abuse, although their identities have been withheld by FIFA to prevent further harassment. The AI-driven analysis of these posts revealed that two-thirds of the accounts posting abuse originated from North and Central America.
The data highlighted specific triggers for the increase in abuse. The U.S. team faced heightened negativity centered around their decision not to sing the national anthem before games. A significant surge in abusive messages was recorded following the U.S. team's inability to defeat Portugal in a group game on Aug. 1, and the peak of detected abuse on all platforms occurred on Aug. 6, coinciding with the USWNT's elimination after losing to Sweden.
Article Continues Below
The situation was exacerbated when President Joe Biden expressed his commiseration with the U.S. players, leading to a flurry of abusive messages. Furthermore, Spain’s victory over England in the final also sparked a wave of sexist and misogynistic comments, especially after an incident involving the then-Spanish FA president Luis Rubiales and player Jenni Hermoso.
The SMPS data revealed that general abuse constituted 23.31% of the offensive messages, while anti-gay (20.4%) and sexually explicit messages (15.03%) were also prevalent.
“There can be no place on social media for those who abuse or threaten anyone, be that in FIFA tournaments or elsewhere,” FIFA president Gianni Infantino said. “Through the Social Media Protection Service — which was introduced one year ago, with the support of FIFPRO — FIFA has helped reduce the exposure of players, teams and officials to online abuse and hate speech by reporting and hiding more than 400,000 comments … Discrimination has no place in football and no place in society. Together, we say: NO DISCRIMINATION!”
