Football project tracking social media abuse identifies 300 people from 2022 World Cup posts

A file photo of people posing for photos at the Corniche promenade as Doha's skyline is seen in the background during the Qatar 2022 World Cup football tournament. The biggest spike in abuse was during the France-England quarterfinals game, said the final report from a project created jointly by Fifa and the players’ global union Fifpro. It used artificial intelligence to help identify and hide offensive social media posts. — AFP

GENEVA: A project using artificial intelligence to track social media abuse aimed at players at the 2022 World Cup identified more than 300 people whose details are being given to law enforcement, Fifa said on June 18.

The people made “abusive, discriminatory, or threatening posts (or) comments” on platforms like Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and YouTube, football’s governing body said in a report detailing efforts to protect players and officials during the tournament played in Qatar.