FIFA flags 388,000 harmful comments at ongoing 2026 World Cup

FIFA flags 388,000 harmful comments at ongoing 2026 World Cup

FIFA has revealed that its Social Media Protection Service has identified and acted on more than 388,000 harmful comments since June 11, when the 2026 FIFA World Cup commenced.

Highlighting the persistent challenge of online abuse targeting players, teams and officials amid the tournament, the body urged fans to desist from hatred, online abuse, and misconduct in football.

FIFA disclosed this on its official X handle on Thursday.

The football governing body said it had “reviewed over 250 million comments and posts, of which 30 million harmful comments and posts were identified and removed since SMPS was launched.”

It added that the service “reviewed over 3.8 million comments and posts” related to the ongoing 2026 World Cup competition and identified 388,000 harmful comments, surpassing the 287,000 removed throughout the entire 2022 tournament.

The SMPS uses AI-driven monitoring to automatically detect and hide abusive content, including discriminatory, threatening or hateful remarks, from the public feeds of protected accounts.

This prevents players and their followers from exposure while enabling FIFA to take further action against offenders.

The service, developed in partnership with players’ union FIFPRO, was first introduced at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar and has since been expanded.

FIFA described the initiative as a key step in “stopping hate and protecting football,” allowing participants to focus on the game without the psychological toll of online harassment.

While the announcement drew support from fans who welcomed stronger protections, critics on X questioned whether FIFA is addressing the root causes of fan frustration, such as refereeing decisions, match scheduling or commercial aspects of the tournament.

Others called for clearer distinctions between genuine abuse and passionate but non-harmful football banter.