ATP Tour's Safe Sport Initiative Shields Players from Online Abuse

The ATP Tour has reported that its Safe Sport initiative, aimed at combating online abuse, identified more than 162,000 abusive social media comments during its inaugural year.

According to the tour's statements on Thursday, over 3.1 million comments were analyzed, with the most severe abuses being concealed from the profiles of the 245 targeted players.

The initiative, which employs real-time artificial intelligence to protect players by filtering harmful comments, became available in July 2024 to top singles and doubles players. Andrew Azzopardi, the ATP's director of safeguarding, noted the significant shift this initiative represents in online athlete protection, acknowledging the ongoing challenge of abuse but marking it as a crucial first defense step. Additionally, Safe Sport offers support against email threats, impersonation, deepfakes, and scams.

(With inputs from agencies.)