Ofcom has written to online platforms urging them to ensure that sportspeople and pundits are protected from harm during the World Cup.

As we have previously discussed here, Ofcom has identified football as having a particular problem when it comes to online abuse, which is only exacerbated during major events, as we saw in the men’s Euros in 2021 and the Women’s Euros last year.  Indeed, earlier this year, the new ‘Online Hate in Professional Football Working Group’ was established to bring together regulators, law enforcement, and industry bodies to share intelligence in the hope of rooting out such abuse (discussed here).

As the World Cup gets underway, Ofcom has written to online platforms reminding them of the scale of the problem, the heightened risk of particular forms of abuse becoming more frequent, and steps they are expected to take under the Online Safety Act 2023.

In its letter, Ofcom states that it “expect[s] providers with exposure to these risks to ensure their mitigations are effective and that they are adequately prepared for increased occurrence during the World Cup. This includes minimising the presence and dissemination of illegal content, and enabling rapid and effective action where it arises for UK users”.

Specific steps that it expects providers to take include:

• Having adequately resourced content moderation teams to rapidly remove illegal hate, threats, harassment and abuse when it is reported to them. This includes being resourced to deal with spikes in demand for content moderation.
• Setting performance targets for removing illegal material.
• Acknowledging complaints about activity users believe may be illegal, and providing a timeframe for responding to them.
• Adequately training staff involved in protecting users from illegal behaviour, including harassment, and providing them with a code of conduct.
• Enabling users to block or mute other users, and to disable comments.

Commenting on the letter, Ofcom’s Online Safety Group Director, Oliver Griffiths, said:

“No-one should have to put up the awful online abuse that we’ve seen directed towards so many people who work in sport. We’ve heard from those who have experienced this about the devastating impact it has on them, their livelihoods and their families. It can leave them feeling unable to do their jobs, unable to express themselves, and even afraid to leave their homes.

Tech firms now have a legal duty to deal with illegal hate and abuse. If people see illegal content online during the World Cup, they should make a point of reporting it to the relevant platform. We’re pushing companies hard to make their services safer, and we’ll be holding them to account if they don’t.”

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