The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has introduced a new AI-powered monitoring service that will protect athletes and officials from online abuse Paris Olympics 2024.
The committee said the AI-powered system will monitor thousands of accounts on all major social media platforms and in 35+ languages in real time.
“Paris 2024 will mark the first time that AI will be in use to provide safe online spaces for such a large number of athletes competing in so many sports at the same time,” read the statement in part.
It further noted that any identified threats will be flagged, so that abusive messages can be dealt with effectively by the relevant social media platforms – in many cases before the athlete has even had the chance to see the abuse.
IOC President Thomas Bach said athletes have a unique and valuable perspective on how the games should be organized and on the issues that affect them while competing.
“I am therefore delighted that the Athletes’ Commission and Medical and Scientific Commission are responding to this feedback through initiatives like the AI system to protect athletes at Paris 2024 from online abuse,” he said.
AI System to Monitor Online Abuse During the Paris Olympics
IOC said the system will not only prioritize the safety and well-being of athletes across the games but will also help the IOC better understand the challenges that athletes face in relation to online abuse, enabling it to further enhance athlete protection at future events.
Sport and social media are inextricably linked, and online abuse has become a key challenge affecting society and sport today.
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“There are so many fantastic opportunities for athlete engagement, but unfortunately online violence is inescapable, particularly when athletes rely on social media for their profile,” Kirsty Burrows, Head of the Safe Sport Unit at the IOC said.
“This is a critical challenge for us because safe sporting environments also have to mean safe digital environments.”
The online monitoring system will be available to cover 15,000 athletes and more than 2,000 officials across the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
It will be a key part of what Burrows calls “a package of safeguarding systems” to ensure safe online and offline environments during the Games, with the ultimate goal being to support and promote athletes’ physical and mental health and well-being.
By utilizing AI, IOC say they will be able to better understand online violence in sport and develop data-driven policies and interventions to help create physically and psychologically safe environments for athletes.
The AI System was Piloted During Olympic Esports Week
The AI-powered tool was successfully piloted during Olympic Esports Week in 2023, where it monitored targeted, abusive content posted on the social media accounts of players participating in the event.
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This included identifying slurs, offensive images and emojis or other phrases that could indicate abuse.
It subsequently analyzed more than 17,000 public posts, flagging 199 potentially abusive messages from 48 authors targeting accounts from a study set of 122 players and two official IOC accounts.
A total of 49 posts were then verified as abusive by a team of experts against an agreed definition of discriminatory abuse and flagged for action via the relevant social media platforms.
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