FIFA’s digital monitoring systems identified 89,000 abusive posts on social media during the World Cup group stage, a 13-fold increase from the 2022 tournament in Qatar, world football’s governing body said Wednesday.
The spike was recorded after FIFA’s Social Media Protection Service scanned more than six million posts and comments, a 33% increase from 2022. Racial abuse accounted for 11% of all flagged offensive content.
The share of racially motivated attacks represents a 3% rise compared with the group stage in Qatar, with FIFA saying it marked a “significant increase in the objectively worst, most offensive material” on social media platforms.
“Available to all teams, players, coaches and match officials participating in FIFA tournaments, SMPS protects them and their followers from experiencing discriminatory and offensive content,” FIFA said in a statement.
The SMPS uses a mix of technology and human moderation to detect, filter and block racist, discriminatory or threatening messages while also protecting players’ followers from exposure to abusive content.
