'Cause not symptom': ITF demands action in fight against online abuse

As a global leader in sporting integrity, the ITF is encouraging the key actors within the tennis industry to utilise their powers to eradicate online abuse.

While possessing the capacity to inspire and excite, the sporting world is facing an epidemic of abuse, with athletes and officials facing digital hostility and cyber bullying. 

Speaking this week at a United Against Online Abuse Conference in Paris, the ITF laid out its position in the battle against the ongoing and deep-rooted disease which is online hate.

The nature of abuse in tennis is widespread and some of it general, although it can also be sexist, racist, homophobic, xenophobic and sectarianist. A large proportion contains threats of violence and threats of violence against family members, while abuse related to match-fixing and betting outcomes also accounts for a lot. 

The ITF’s vision is for professional tennis to be free of inappropriate online contact. The challenges to eliminating online abuse are clear: the anonymity which social media platforms offer, restrictions on data sharing and the cross-border nature of abuse.

That said, the fight continues to reduce the prevalence of abuse, reduce its impact on players' wellbeing and increase the safety of players.

For this to happen, there are effectively five key actors – players, governing bodies, social media platforms, law enforcement agencies and betting operators – all of which can contribute to combatting online abuse. 

Stuart Miller, the ITF's Senior Executive Director for Integrity & Legal, has reinforced the need for a collective effort but also called on some of the aforementioned agencies to up their game. 

“While I am pleased to be part of this important and collective event, we need all key stakeholders to sit around the table, agree an action plan and follow it up,” said Miller.

“It is only by collective effort from players, law enforcers, betting operators, governing bodies and the social platforms that we will bring about change.

“In the absence of that, we will be caught in the eternal challenge of addressing the symptoms and fallout on mental health and performance as well as impact on an athlete’s commercial value, without addressing the causes.”

In January, the ITF together with the WTA, All England Club and USTA launched a proactive monitoring service that protects athletes from online abuse and threats.

The service monitors players’ public-facing social media for abusive and threatening content on X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, YouTube, Facebook and TikTok. It also provides support for players who receive abuse or threats via private Direct Messaging.

The service covers all partner tournaments sanctioned by the organisations involved and any player who competes regularly on the ITF World Tennis Tour or at a WTA Tour event, Wimbledon or the US Open.

In short, the service:

• Automatically monitors all social media posts to the players concerned for harassment, abuse and threat.
• Provides rapid threat assessment of personal safety.
• Alerts social platforms of abuse and fixated threats, to facilitate removal of the offending content.
• Supports law enforcement agencies in the investigation of the most serious cases.
• Includes educational support programmes to help players mitigate abuse and threat.

In the first quarter of 2024 alone, 220 players have been the target of online abuse from nearly 1,000 separate accounts.

“This gives an indication as to the scale of the problem and protecting players from abuse is key to the duty of tennis stakeholders in promoting and improving the health, wellbeing and safety of players,” added Miller. “Sadly, we expect those numbers to rise as the year goes on.

“Nonetheless, we will continue to fight against the scourge of social media abuse, and we hope to do so in partnership with key stakeholders so that we can address the cause and not just the symptoms.”