FIFA’s Social Media Protection Service has flagged more than 7 million potentially harmful or abusive posts on social media platforms during the current World Cup, the global soccer organization announced Saturday.
The staggering number is 14 times greater than what was recorded during the 2022 World Cup, when 470,000 such posts were removed.
The protection service team has personally reviewed more than half a million messages that were initially flagged by artificial intelligence — all of them targeting players, coaches, or officials connected to the tournament. Of those, more than 1,000 were deemed serious enough to be reported to authorities, including law enforcement agencies.
In total, the team has reviewed and moderated more than 53 million posts and comments since the tournament began. The World Cup wraps up Sunday when Argentina and Spain meet in the championship match.
Earlier this month, FIFA revealed that racial abuse made up 11% of all offensive messages detected during the tournament so far.
