Concern over rise in online racist abuse at World Cup
Online racist abuse has surged by 33% during the World Cup, with over 100 cases reaching the legal threshold for prosecution.
The number of racist attacks on social media has significantly increased during the World Cup, according to data from the Social Media Research and Prevention Organisation (SMPS). Over six million posts and comments were scanned, a 33% increase from previous periods. Of these, 225,000 were flagged for human review, and more than 100 cases met the legal threshold for preparing case files for legal action.
SMPS noted that while detection methods have improved, the data trends show a concerning direction in terms of racially aggravated abuse. For instance, the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) reported that players Justin Kluivert, Quinten Timber, and Crysencio Summerville received discriminatory, racist, and hateful comments on social media after their penalty shootout defeat to Morocco.
In total, around 1,000 accounts were identified for further investigation, and 181,000 hateful comments were hidden.
