FIFA and the world organization representing professional footballers (FIFPRO) have launched a plan to protect teams participating in tournaments such as the World Cup in Qatar from insults poured on social networks.
At the United Nations International Day to Counter Hate Speech, FIFA published a report showing the increase in insults footballers receive on social media platforms at national team tournaments.
The study, which used artificial intelligence to track more than 400,000 posts on social media platforms during the semi-finals and finals of two national team tournaments (European Championship 2020 and African Cup 2021), found that more than 50 percent of players have been subjected to some form of insult discrimination, most of them coming from their own countries.
Homophobic and racist comments
The majority corresponds to homophobic (40 per cent) and racist (38 per cent) comments, many of which remain published in the accounts in which they were originally directed, FIFA said in a statement.
To combat this situation, FIFA and FIFPRO will launch a specific moderation service for men’s and women’s football tournaments seeking recognized hate speech published on designated social media accounts here and, after identifying them, prevents the recipient and their followers from seeing the comment.
Although the offensive message is still visible to the person who posted the comment, its visibility and reach will be significantly reduced, the two organizations understand.
High probability of identification
The report also features that 90 percent of the accounts that post these abusive comments have a high probability of being identified, so the activity of such accounts can be transferred to social media platforms and to the governing authorities. to law enforcement so that further action can be taken.
“We have an obligation to protect football and that starts with the footballers, who give us so much joy and happiness in their work on the pitch,” said FIFA president Gianni Infantino, who considered the move “unacceptable. -accept. ” tendency to publish comments against players, coaches, referees and teams, a “form of discrimination that has no place in football” or in society.
protect and educate
In this action, FIFA aims to “protect football and avoid the harmful effects that these publications may cause”, but also “educate current and future generations to engage“ in sport ”both socially. media and on the pitch “.
“We hope that by coming together to combat the problem, social media platforms will do the same and will actively support us to be part of the solution,” FIFA said.
David Aganzo warned of the consequences
Spanish David Aganzo, president of FIFPRO, indicated that insults against soccer players “have a huge impact on their personality, their families, their performance and their mental health and overall well -being.”
In this sense, the two institutions will provide educational support, which will include recommendations on best practices for managing accounts on social networks, and will provide mental health advice for all players participating in the FIFA tournaments during 2022 and 2023..
Source: La Verdad
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
