Tennis governing bodies launch service to combat online abuse

The ITF, WTA, All England Club and USTA have collectively launched a proactive monitoring service that aims to protect athletes from online abuse and threats. 

Tennis players are subject to significant levels of social media abuse and other inappropriate online contact, which poses risks to preparation, performance and mental health. In response, the ITF, WTA, AELTC and USTA have launched the proactive monitoring service, which will begin on 1 January 2024.

Threat Matrix – a specialist service developed by AI company Signify Group and supported by the investigations team at Quest and the fixated threat specialists, Theseus Risk Management – will monitor players’ public-facing social media for abusive and threatening content on X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, YouTube, Facebook and TikTok. As part of a unique service, support will also be provided for players who receive abuse or threats via private Direct Messaging.

The service will go live on 1 January 2024 and will cover all partner tournaments sanctioned by the organisations involved and any player who competes regularly in an ITF World Tennis Tour, or WTA Tour event, Wimbledon and the US Open.

This development reflects the commitment of the international tennis bodies involved to protect and support athletes from the mental trauma and potential real-world threat of online harassment and abuse. Using a combination of artificial intelligence and open-source data, the Threat Matrix service, which operates in 35 languages, will:

• Automatically monitor all social media posts to the players (and during the events) concerned for harassment, abuse and threat.
• Provide rapid threat assessment of personal safety.
• Alert social platforms of abuse and fixated threats, to facilitate removal of the offending content.
• Support law enforcement agencies in the investigation of the most serious cases.
• Include educational support programmes to help players mitigate abuse and threat.

David Haggerty, ITF President said: “Social media abuse is a serious problem for athletes, and this initiative takes a decisive and industry-leading step towards addressing it. Tennis must be a sport in which players can compete to the best of their ability, free from any form of harassment.”

Threat Matrix was commissioned to conduct a study in which it monitored over 1.6 million public posts on X and 19,000 Instagram comments sent to a sample of 454 players competing at a range of professional tennis tournaments in 2022. One in four players whose accounts were monitored were subject to abuse. Of these, 546 offensive Tweets from 438 accounts were identified, with details and evidence shared with platforms and authorities for action.

The Threat Matrix service will support the identification of abusers, against whom all available measures will be taken. Tennis is committed to supporting its athletes against online abuse, to which this ground-breaking initiative will make a significant contribution.

Brian Hainline, MD, USTA Chair of the Board and President, said: "Tennis stakeholders have a moral duty to foster the health and safety of our greatest asset - our tennis players. Protecting tennis players from social media abuse is a core component of this duty, and we are proud to partner with Threat Matrix and offer this important service."

Deborah Jevans, Chair of the All England Club, said: “We are committed to playing our part to protect players from online abuse and threats. The implementation of a proactive monitoring service is an important way to support players’ mental health and overall wellbeing which is a priority for the international tennis bodies.”

Steve Simon, WTA Chairman & CEO, said: "As advocates for the well-being of our athletes, we are pleased to work with Threat Matrix to implement a proactive monitoring service dedicated to supporting and protecting WTA athletes from social media abuse. Our commitment to this emphasizes our dedication to creating a positive and supportive space for athletes to thrive both on and off the court."