Wimbledon uses innovative AI technology to crack down on online abuse of tennis players

Wimbledon is using AI to scan social media as part of a new crackdown on online abuse against tennis players.

The innovative Threat Matrix tool will be used for the first time this year to detect malicious smears directed at players.

The company automatically flags death threats, racist and sexist comments in 35 different languages ​​across public accounts.

Players can also apply for a special support service if they receive unpleasant direct messages on X, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok or YouTube.

Championship officials will discuss online hateful behaviour with players and then report it to tech giants to remove it or, if necessary, to the police.

“This year marks the first year that we’ve implemented a social media monitoring service specifically for our tournament,” said Wimbledon tournament director and former British number two Jamie Baker.

“We scroll through social media looking for this type of content, and it means we get information we didn’t get before.

“We’re not just going to rely on players to tell us what happened to them, but if there’s anything that we feel is of concern, then our security team will essentially step in and help us actually do something about it.”

He added: “If there are any concerns or anything we feel is worth reporting, we will ultimately negotiate with the player and then work out the next steps.”

“This is the first year that we’ve had this initiative at our tournament, but there’s a lot more of this happening in tennis now, so I think it’s a really positive thing for our athletes that we’re taking this step.”

Jamie said the software was “slightly different” to that used at last year’s French Open and would be used at the US Open alongside the ITF World Tennis Tour and WTA Tour.

The AI-driven service, developed by Signify Group, is supported by expert investigative teams from Quest and Theseus Risk Management.

The measure came into effect on January 1 after a 2022 survey found that one in four tennis aces had experienced abuse.

The service monitored more than 1.6 million tweets and 19,000 Instagram comments sent to 454 players, identifying 546 offensive posts from 438 accounts.

Harriet Dart, who beat British number one Katie Boulter on Thursday to reach the fourth round, spoke about the hatred.

“I mean, I use it sometimes. Yeah, I mean, I share stuff that I want to share on social media,” she said Thursday.

“But yeah, I don’t know. I think there’s a lot of good stuff, but I also think there’s a lot of bad stuff. If you opened the app today, I think there’d be a fair bit of hate, whether you won or not.”