July 18 (Reuters) – FIFA’s Social Media Protection Service (SMPS), which aims to protect players, teams and officials from online threats and abuse, has detected more than 7 million potentially harmful or abusive posts on social media during the World Cup, the global soccer body said on Saturday.
• FIFA said the detection rate was 14 times higher than the 2022 edition, during which 470,000 such posts were removed.
• The SMPS team have reviewed more than half a million AI-detected messages targeting players, coaches and officials during the ongoing World Cup. They have reported more than 1,000 threats to authorities including law enforcement.
• The SMPS have moderated more than 53 million posts and comments since the start of the World Cup, which culminates on Sunday with a clash between Argentina and Spain.
• Earlier this month, FIFA said racial abuse accounted for 11% of detected offensive messages during the World Cup so far.
(Reporting by Chiranjit Ojha in Bengaluru; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
