London, Aug 22 (AP) The ATP Tour's Safe Sport initiative has identified over 162,000 abusive social media comments aimed at players within its inaugural year.
The tour announced on Thursday that over 3.1 million comments were scanned, with the most severe comments being hidden from the 245 targeted players.
Safe Sport utilizes real-time AI technology to detect and conceal abusive comments on players' social media accounts. It was launched in July 2024 and is accessible to the top 250 singles and top 50 doubles players.
According to Andrew Azzopardi, the ATP's director of safeguarding, the initiative has "fundamentally changed how we protect our athletes online." He stated, "More than 1 in 10 comments on players' posts were abusive, escalating to 50% in extreme cases."
"While it won't eliminate abuse overnight, it's our first line of defense," Azzopardi continued. "Safeguarding player well-being is a long-term commitment." Safe Sport also provides support for players dealing with email threats, impersonation, deepfakes, and scams.
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