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

FIFA's Social Media Protection Service (SMPS) has detected more than 7 million posts containing potentially harmful or abusive content directed at players, teams, and staff during the current World Cup. This represents a significant increase, being 14 times higher than the 470,000 such posts identified and removed during the 2022 World Cup.

The SMPS team manually reviewed over 500,000 posts flagged by artificial intelligence as abusive towards players, coaches, and staff. More than a thousand threatening messages were reported to relevant authorities, including law enforcement agencies. Since the tournament's commencement, the SMPS has scrutinized over 53 million posts and comments.

The World Cup is heading towards its climax with Argentina and Spain set to compete in the final. Earlier this month, FIFA revealed that approximately 11% of the abusive messages detected during the tournament involved racial discrimination. The final match is scheduled for tomorrow.