• Privacy Policy
  • Contact Us
  • Login
  • Home
  • Archive
  • Contact Us
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Archive
  • Contact Us
No Result
View All Result
No Result
View All Result
Home World Athletics

World Athletics publishes Online Abuse Study covering Tokyo Olympic Games, by World Athletics

RBR AdminbyRBR Admin
November 25, 2021
0
0 0
0
SHARES
4
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

This is an important read! Online abuse is much more common than many think. It is directed at women 70 percent plus of the time, and it just should not happen. Please read and share.

adidas_shoe.jpgAdi Dassler cobbled these shoes in 1924, Adi co founded adidas, photo by adidas Communications

RelatedPosts

World champions and world record-breakers Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone and Mondo Duplantis have been named the World Athletes of the Year, from World Athletics

Top 10 male performances of the outdoor Track and Field Season in 2022 (5-1)

Barbora Špotáková, the queen of the javelin, has retired…

• Female athletes were the target of 87% of all abuse

• 65% of all abusive posts warrant intervention from social media platforms

In line with its commitment to making athletics a safe and welcoming environment for everyone, World Athletics today publishes findings of a study conducted during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games to identify and address targeted, abusive messages sent to athletes via social media.

The study revealed disturbing levels of abuse of athletes, including sexist, racist, transphobic and homophobic posts, and unfounded doping accusations. It also unequivocally highlights the greater levels of abuse female athletes receive in comparison to their male counterparts.

These results, which follow the launch of World Athletics’ Safeguarding Policy earlier this month, raise concerns that existing safeguarding measures on social media platforms need to be tougher to protect athletes. Online abuse may cause trauma for the affected individual and can heavily impact athletes’ performances – both in training and during competition.

The study was carried out in collaboration with Threat Matrix, an initiative by data science company Signify Group Ltd and sports investigations company Quest Global Ltd, and was developed to understand the size, scale and gravity of online abuse targeted at Olympic athletes on Twitter. It builds the foundation for the action World Athletics is taking and provides a basis for World Athletics to work more closely with social media platforms to tackle this issue.

To gain an understanding of the level of online abuse in athletics, a sample of 161 Twitter handles of current and former athletes involved in the Tokyo Olympic Games (derived from a list of 200 athletes selected by World Athletics) was tracked during the study period, starting one week prior to the Olympic opening ceremony and concluding the day after the Olympic closing ceremony (15 July – 9 August 2021).

In this timeframe, 240,707 tweets including 23,521 images, GIFs and videos were captured for analysis. This included text analysis through searches for slurs, offensive images and emojis and other phrases that could indicate abuse. It also used AI-powered Natural Language Processing to detect threats by understanding the relationship between words (allowing it to determine the difference between “I’ll kill you” and “you killed it”, for example).

The study revealed:

  • 132 targeted discriminatory posts from 119 authors, with 23 of the 161 tracked athletes receiving targeted abuse.
  • Out of the 23 athletes who received abuse, 16 were women with 115 of the 132 identified abusive posts directed at female athletes.
  • Female athletes received 87% of all abuse.
  • 63% of identified abuse was directed at just two athletes – both black and female – while the two most common categories of abuse were of a sexist (29%) and/or racist (26%) nature, accounting for 55% of all identified abuse.

“When we published our Safeguarding Policy earlier this month, I said athletics clubs, schools and community sports environments should be safe and happy places for those in our sport,” World Athletics President Sebastian Coe said.

“In a world where we share so much of our lives online, this must apply to the virtual, as well as the physical world. This research is disturbing in so many ways but what strikes me the most is that the abuse is targeted at individuals who are celebrating and sharing their performances and talent as a way to inspire and motivate people. To face the kinds of abuse they have is unfathomable and we all need to do more to stop this. Shining a light on the issue is just the first step.”

Unfounded doping accusations made up 25% of abusive messages, while 10% consisted of transphobic (9%) and homophobic (1%) posts.

89% of racist abuse was targeted at US athletes, despite them representing only 23% of the study set.

Max Siegel, CEO of USA Track&Field, commented: “The entire USATF community is grateful to World Athletics for conducting this vital survey which has confirmed unfortunately what we have all known for a long time: US athletes are disproportionately targeted for abuse and hate on social media.

“Increasing evidence indicates that this is driven by a huge rise in prejudice against race, gender and social status. Simply put, this type of behaviour is disgusting and utterly unacceptable. USATF remains committed to working alongside World Athletics, our athlete and constituent community, social media proprietors, the US Center for SafeSport and law enforcement to eliminate abuse and make our sport safe and welcoming for all.”

The analysis consisted of a triage process which involved assessing each of the flagged posts, analysing their content and context and providing a view as to which one of four tiers of required action they met.

65% of abusive posts were deemed gravely abusive, thus warranting intervention from the social channel. We work closely with Twitter and have notified them of the relevant posts and users and will continue to work with their team to take appropriate actions against the perpetrators.

Jonathan Hirshler, CEO of Signify Group, commented: “Working on this important study with World Athletics and our partners Quest Global, has allowed us to illustrate the tactics and nuances used by bad actors in this space – while also providing clarity on the scale of the problem. Threat Matrix is focused on proactive monitoring and informed assessment of targeted discriminatory abuse, and the identification of accounts sending these messages.

“Our goal is to shift the process from being victim-led to a proactive and preventative approach, making the athlete online experience safe, less threatening, and less toxic. We are grateful to World Athletics for taking a lead on this important issue.”

Posts marked as Tier 3 made up 12%, with one serious case of erotic fixation targeting one female athlete and four cases of egregious racism. Where tweets have passed a criminal threshold, World Athletics has, together with their relevant Member Federation, passed over information to law enforcement in that country. We have also been in direct contact with respective Member Federations where abusive accounts have been identified to determine the individuals’ level of affiliation to the sport in the region.

World Athletics will be conducting further research in this area and has used the findings of this survey to introduce an Online Abuse Framework for its own social media channels to ensure they are environments free from abuse.

The beauty of athletics is its diversity. We want our channels to not only represent, but to celebrate this diversity, free from harassment and abuse.

To make sure this is the case, World Athletics pledges to

  • remove hate speech, including but not limited to sexist and racist language, bullying and other misconduct from the comments sections of our channels
  • block people bringing abuse and hate to our channels
  • report the most serious cases to relevant authorities
  • ensure our channels continue to cover and celebrate diversity and equality in sport
  • build on this promise to make our channels and the social media platforms used by our members a safer and more equal environment for everyone

World Athletics will also work closely with the Safeguarding Working Group on providing appropriate materials to Area Associations and Member Federations as part of its Safeguarding Policy resources to ensure the implementation of safeguarding measures covers not just physical, but also digital spaces.

Full press release and key findings

Author

  • Larry Eder
    Larry Eder

    Larry Eder has had a 50-year involvement in the sport of athletics. Larry has experienced the sport as an athlete, coach, magazine publisher, and now, journalist and blogger. His first article, on Don Bowden, America's first sub-4 minute miler, was published in RW in 1983. Larry has published several magazines on athletics, from American Athletics to the U.S. version of Spikes magazine. He currently manages the content and marketing development of the RunningNetwork, The Shoe Addicts, and RunBlogRun. Of RunBlogRun, his daily pilgrimage with the sport, Larry says: "I have to admit, I love traveling to far away meets, writing about the sport I love, and the athletes I respect, for my readers at runblogrun.com, the most of anything I have ever done, except, maybe running itself." Theme song: Greg Allman, " I'm no Angel."

    View all posts

Previous Post

2021 RunBlogRun, week # 10, Fall Cross Country Racing Season, Day 4

Next Post

Thoughts on Jacob Kiplimo’s amazing half marathon world record of 57:31

Larry Eder

Larry Eder

Larry Eder has had a 50-year involvement in the sport of athletics. Larry has experienced the sport as an athlete, coach, magazine publisher, and now, journalist and blogger. His first article, on Don Bowden, America's first sub-4 minute miler, was published in RW in 1983. Larry has published several magazines on athletics, from American Athletics to the U.S. version of Spikes magazine. He currently manages the content and marketing development of the RunningNetwork, The Shoe Addicts, and RunBlogRun. Of RunBlogRun, his daily pilgrimage with the sport, Larry says: "I have to admit, I love traveling to far away meets, writing about the sport I love, and the athletes I respect, for my readers at runblogrun.com, the most of anything I have ever done, except, maybe running itself." Theme song: Greg Allman, " I'm no Angel."

Similar Post

Yared Nuguse sets AR for 3,000m in 7:28.24 at Boston Terrier Classic
American Records

Yared Nuguse sets AR for 3,000m in 7:28.24 at Boston Terrier Classic

January 28, 2023
For Shoe Geeks: the Brooks Hyperion MAX
Running Shoes

For Shoe Geeks: the Brooks Hyperion MAX

January 28, 2023
2022 RunBlogRun Winter Training Block, Week Three, Day Six, a day at the races
News

Coffee With Larry, Lilac Grand Prix, Dr. Sander Invite, Huge weekend of track and field !

January 28, 2023
UK Athletics announce a loss for 2021-2022
2023 World Athletics Indoor Tour

Dina Asher-Smith gets 7.04 NR, plenty of early World Leads at INIT MEETING Karlsruhe!

January 28, 2023
INIT INDOOR MEETING Karlsruhe, Messehalle, Karlsruhe, Germany, 27 January 2023, complete results
2023 World Athletics Indoor Tour

INIT INDOOR MEETING Karlsruhe, Messehalle, Karlsruhe, Germany, 27 January 2023, complete results

January 27, 2023
RECORDS, AND WILD FINISHES HIGHLIGHT CHEVRON HOUSTON MARATHON AND ARAMCO HOUSTON HALF-MARATHON
Winter Training

2022 RunBlogRun Winter Training Block, Week 4, Day 5, Friday is a recovery…

January 27, 2023

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Subscribe to RunBlogRun's Global News Feed

Wake up to RunBlogRun’s news in your inbox. Sign up for our newsletter and we’ll keep you informed about the Sport you love.

*we hate spam as much as you do

  • Trending
  • Comments
  • Latest
USATF / Day Four:  USA’s Assembled Team Is Ready!

Abby Steiner replies via twitter, on the curiosity about her new professional running contract

July 5, 2022
What happened to the crowd at Eugene?

What happened to the crowd at Eugene?

July 17, 2022
Oregon 22 World Athletics Champs: False Starts reconsidered

Oregon 22 World Athletics Champs: False Starts reconsidered

November 18, 2022
Wanda Diamond League Final plans, 2023-2027, from World Athletics Website

Wanda Diamond League Final plans, 2023-2027, from World Athletics Website

October 14, 2022
Asafa Powell, Considering Longevity in Sprinting

The RunBlogrun Interview: Asafa Powell

5
What happened to the crowd at Eugene?

What happened to the crowd at Eugene?

5
TCS New York City Marathon Broadcast to be Available in More Than 530 Million Homes Around the World on Sunday, November 6

RunblogRun Editorial: The Sorry State of Running Television Coverage, by Peter Abraham, note by Larry Eder

4
Cary Pinkowski did the Heroic Thing–My letter to CNN on the LSB Chicago Marathon

Cary Pinkowski did the Heroic Thing–My letter to CNN on the LSB Chicago Marathon

3
Yared Nuguse sets AR for 3,000m in 7:28.24 at Boston Terrier Classic

Yared Nuguse sets AR for 3,000m in 7:28.24 at Boston Terrier Classic

January 28, 2023
For Shoe Geeks: the Brooks Hyperion MAX

For Shoe Geeks: the Brooks Hyperion MAX

January 28, 2023
2022 RunBlogRun Winter Training Block, Week Three, Day Six, a day at the races

Coffee With Larry, Lilac Grand Prix, Dr. Sander Invite, Huge weekend of track and field !

January 28, 2023
UK Athletics announce a loss for 2021-2022

Dina Asher-Smith gets 7.04 NR, plenty of early World Leads at INIT MEETING Karlsruhe!

January 28, 2023

Popular Stories

  • USATF / Day Four:  USA’s Assembled Team Is Ready!

    Abby Steiner replies via twitter, on the curiosity about her new professional running contract

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • What happened to the crowd at Eugene?

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Oregon 22 World Athletics Champs: False Starts reconsidered

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Wanda Diamond League Final plans, 2023-2027, from World Athletics Website

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Howard Slusher, RIP, 1937-2022, the man behind the new Hayward Field

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0

Recent Tweets

RunBlogRun Follow

RunBlogRun comments on the global world of athletics, sports & ethics, and the Olympic movement. RunBlogRun is the voice of the sport.

RunBlogRun
runblogrun RunBlogRun @runblogrun ·
1h

Coffee With Larry, Lilac Grand Prix, Dr. Sander Invite, Huge weekend of track and field! by RunBlogRun, ...https://www.runblogrun.com/2023/01/coffee-with-larry-lilac-grand-prix-dr-sander-invite-huge-weekend-of-track-and-field.html , #CoffeeWithLarry

Reply on Twitter 1619216893843496960 Retweet on Twitter 1619216893843496960 Like on Twitter 1619216893843496960 Twitter 1619216893843496960
Retweet on Twitter RunBlogRun Retweeted
deek207 Rob de Castella @deek207 ·
6h

@WABathurst23 @WorldAthletics @OceaniaAths @AthsAust @BenitaWillis One of the truely great Aust performances! 👏👏👏

Reply on Twitter 1619139914876194816 Retweet on Twitter 1619139914876194816 1 Like on Twitter 1619139914876194816 15 Twitter 1619139914876194816
Retweet on Twitter RunBlogRun Retweeted
wabathurst23 WABathurst23 @wabathurst23 ·
27 Jan

What does it take to win the @WorldAthletics Cross Country Championship? 🏆🤔 Aussie Champion Benita Willis breaks down how she claimed the title in Brussels 2004, surging clear of a pursuing ...posse of East African rivals over the closing stages. MORE: http://bit.ly/3XJkK0L

Reply on Twitter 1618869531186991106 Retweet on Twitter 1618869531186991106 3 Like on Twitter 1618869531186991106 22 Twitter 1618869531186991106
Retweet on Twitter RunBlogRun Retweeted
howlao Howard Lao @howlao ·
2h

Photos from the 2023 Lilac Grand Prix in Spokane, Washington!

Hosted by Union Athletic Club at The Podium

Photos for Portland Track

Reply on Twitter 1619196860576706560 Retweet on Twitter 1619196860576706560 2 Like on Twitter 1619196860576706560 19 Twitter 1619196860576706560
runblogrun RunBlogRun @runblogrun ·
2h

Yared Nuguse sets AR for 3,000m in 7:28.24 at Boston Terrier Classic , by Larry Eder, https://www.runblogrun.com/2023/01/yared-nuguse-sets-ar-for-3000m-in-728-24-at-boston-terrier-classic.html , ...#yarednuguse, @on_running, @djritzenhein, #bostonterrierclassic, #usatf,

Reply on Twitter 1619197305281978369 Retweet on Twitter 1619197305281978369 Like on Twitter 1619197305281978369 1 Twitter 1619197305281978369
Load More...
Next Post

Thoughts on Jacob Kiplimo's amazing half marathon world record of 57:31

runblogrun

RunBlogRun comments on the global world of athletics, sports & ethics, and the Olympic movement. @runblogrun

Browse by Category

Newsletter

Subscribe to our mailing list to receives daily updates direct to your inbox!

  • Home
  • Archive
  • Contact Us

© 2022 Run Blog Run - All Rights Reserved

No Result
View All Result
  • Archive
  • Contact Us
  • Home page
  • My Account
  • Sample Page

© 2022 Run Blog Run - All Rights Reserved

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In

Add New Playlist