Technology can help combat online abuse of athletes

Joe McMorrow of Pinsent Masons was commenting after British Olympian Kirsty Gilmour wrote about the level of online abuse she had received.

In an article for BBC Sport, Gilmour highlighted how she had been targeted by online trolls following defeat in badminton matches. She said the messages she received made her “viscerally angry in my very core”.

The Scot, who recently won a bronze medal in the women’s singles at the European Games, said she suspects most of her abusers have not watched her matches and instead comment after tracking the score on betting websites and losing money. She hoped her writing about the issue would cause trolls to “think twice” before posting abuse and “consider the actual, real-life human being opening that notification at the other end”.

Gilmour said athletes had access to technology to help “filter out abusive comments in almost real time” at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and highlighted how tennis players at this year’s French Open had access to such technology too. However, she called on event organisers to ensure athletes have protection at their events too.

McMorrow, who specialises in providing advice on employment issues in the sports sector, said online tools are available which can help individual athletes, sports clubs and event organisers identify abusive content and obtain its removal.

Pinsent Masons’ brand and reputation management tool Alteria uses artificial intelligence (AI) to search for abusive messages across social media and other online platforms. The searches are tailored to identify potentially inappropriate posts that refer to sports organisations, or to a particular athlete or employee. By using monitoring software that identifies online infringements, businesses have the option to file a takedown request to remove those posts via the platform at the click of a button.

McMorrow said: “With the rise of technology and social media, it is vital that organisations protect their talent and are seen to be doing so in a market where skills are in high demand. In sport, we have seen what happened to the England men’s players who were racially abused after missing penalties in the European Championships final, while England’s women players have also received sexist abuse and sexual harassment online.”

“Kirsty Gilmour’s brave decision to speak out on the issue shows how the issue of online abuse in sport extends well beyond football. She follows other leading sportspeople, including Formula One racing driver Lewis Hamilton, US Olympic gold medal gymnast Simone Biles, tennis champion Naomi Osaka and swimmer Michael Phelps, in speaking out on mental health wellbeing, which is intrinsically linked to athletic performance and can be negatively impacted through exposure to online abuse,” he said.