Olympic stars given protection from online abuse by AI app

UK Sport has offered Britain’s elite athletes access to an app which uses artificial intelligence to protect against online abuse.

The body, which provides funding to Olympic and Paralympic sports, has signed a contract worth over £300,000 with the company behind an app called Social Protect.

Social Protect uses AI to scan social media posts on a range of platforms including Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and TikTok, detecting messages contacting over two million abusive keywords and phrases and automatically hiding them from an athlete’s replies or comment section.

Athletes can also personalise the abusive words the app will look for, adding ones they wish to avoid.

However, the contract does not cover X, formerly Twitter, and also does not grant the system access to an athlete’s inbox, meaning abusive direct messages on any platform will still go through and be visible to athletes.

UK Sport director of performance Kate Baker said: “The level of abuse our athletes are facing online is unacceptable - to do nothing about this is not an option.

“This agreement sits right at the heart of our commitment to ensure athletes have the right support to be the best version of themselves on and off the field of play.”

The service will be available to athletes for free throughout the full four-year cycle leading up to the LA Olympics in 2028.

Social Protect’s founder Shane Britten said: “The aim is to keep the comment section clean of racism, hatred, scams - of all the horrible things that can exist on social media.”

Coaches, staff and athletes’ family members will also be able to use the app’s service.

Rugby Australia already has a partnership with the app to protect its players, coaches, staff and clubs from harassment, which is in operation from elite down to grassroots level.