FIFA has launched a fresh service to protect hate speech and discrimination on the internet during the World Cup, the sport’s governing body unvieled.
The program will protect at least 830 World Cup team partispants from abuse on social media platforms during the Qatar world cup.
“FIFA is making efforts to provide the best possible situations for players to perform to the best of their capabilities,” FIFA president Gianni Infantino expressed on Wednesday in a statement.
“At the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, we are happy to launch a service that will help to protect players from the damaging effects that social media posts can cause to their mental health and well-being.”
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David Aganzo, head of the global representative firm for professional footballers (FIFPRO), said it was football’s responsibility to protect players online.
“This type of abuse has big effects on their personalities, their families, performance and on their total well-being and mental health,” he explained.
“We look forward to see that the social media protection service provides a beginning to help defend participants from abusive messages,“he added.
He also called on the social media companies to join and help the football governing body in tackling the issue at the FIFA World Cup.”
FIFA will monitor the social media accounts of all participants at the World Cup, scanning for abusive, discriminatory and threatening comments and then reporting them to social networks and law authorities.
Teams, players and other individual participants will also be able to opt-in to a moderation service that will instantly hide abusive and offensive comments on social media platforms including Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.
