Post by FIFA

FIFA Social Media Protection Service identifies 89,000 abusive posts during FIFA World Cup 2026™ group stage - with over one in 10 racially motivated Racial abuse is growing and has become a persistent threat to the wellbeing of players, according to the latest findings from FIFA’s Social Media Protection Service (SMPS) during the FIFA World Cup 2026™ group stage. Available to all teams, players, coaches and match officials participating at FIFA tournaments, SMPS protects them and their followers from experiencing discriminatory and offensive content. When all other identity-based forms of discrimination are analysed, racially motivated attacks account for 11 per cent of all offensive messages and are the leading category of abusive comments and posts. This is not only a 3 per cent rise when compared to the equivalent stage of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™, but it also marks a significant increase in the objectively worst, most offensive material. Of the 6 million posts and comments analysed – an increase of 33 per cent compared to the equivalent stage of the FIFA World Cup 2022 – 225,000 were identified for human review, from which over 89,000 have been verified as abusive and actioned accordingly, with approximately 1,000 accounts escalated for further investigation. This marks a 13-time increase when compared to 2022 when 6,700 abusive comments were identified. It is, however, key to note that these figures compare a 32-team group stage in 2022 with a 48-team format in 2026. Read more: https://lnkd.in/eQf4U7bX